3 October 1997       Doc. 7941

ADOC7941

      MOTION FOR A RECOMMENDATION

      on the revitalisation of political Europe

      presented by Mr Clerfayt, Mrs Durrieu and others

This motion has not been discussed in the Assembly and commits only the members who have signed it

The Assembly,

1.       Concerned at the growing rift between public opinion and the European project, as it is perceived today;

2.       Regretting that the omnipresent debate on the single currency and convergence criteria has relegated to the background not only the reform of the institutions of the European Union, an essential prerequisite to its enlargement to the East, but also deliberation on political Europe which is the aim of the European project embarked upon in the 50s;

3.       Considering that the single currency cannot be an end in itself and that it can only be viable in the long term if it is introduced in tandem with a clear and compelling political programme;

4.       Noting with concern that the social dimension of European integration is not sufficiently taken into account, as illustrated by the circumstances surrounding the closure of the Renault factory in Vilvorde and many others, accentuating people's bitterness and anxiety in a context of growing unemployment;

5.       Noting that Euro-scepticism feeds on the fears encountered in the face of the consequences of globalisation and on the lack of any credible European project and any future-oriented vision in respect of the ongoing crisis;

6.       Stressing that only an organised political Europe is able to address the new challenges and regain the confidence of citizens;

7.       Fearing that a new rush forward will result in decay of the European project and its being diluted in a vast free-trade area;

8.       Taking note of the limits and failures of the intergovernmental approach applied hitherto;

9.       Aware of the responsibilities it assumes vis-à-vis the countries of central and eastern Europe, welcomed since 1989 in the Parliamentary Assembly through the status of special guest, who remain in the greatest uncertainty as regards their future in a Europe where ideas and projects are lacking;

10.       Recalling that the Council of Europe has, since its foundation in 1949, been the heart of the European idea and that its Parliamentary Assembly has been the platform not only for the launching of the founding projects which were the ECSC and the European Economic Community but also for the new democracies of the east following the fall of the Berlin Wall;

11.       Recalling that Europe can be constructed only with the support of the people of whom it is composed, united around common values.

12.       Welcoming the holding of a second Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe member states, but noting that the agenda of this summit does not address the fundamental issue of the political and institutional future of Europe;

13.       Considering it a matter of urgency that there be renewed deliberation on political Europe and on the institutional composition which will result therefrom, as well as on a new strategy to be adopted in order to achieve this end,

14.       Recommends that the Committee of Ministers:

i.       submit to the Spring 1998 session of the Parliamentary Assembly a communication followed by a debate specifying its views on the institutional and political architecture of Europe at the dawn of the next millennium, and on new negotiation methods for European integration;

ii.       plan, at this juncture, to include on the agenda of the third Council of Europe Summit in 1999, the year of the Council's fiftieth anniversary, an initiative which will enable progress to be made in the project for European political union.

      Signed: ¹

Clerfayt, Belgium, LDR

Durrieu, France, SOC

Alloncle, France, EDG

Antretter, Germany, SOC

Baumel, France, EDG

Behrendt, Germany, SOC

Besostri, Italy, SOC

Birraux, France, EPP

Briane, France, EPP

Bribosia-Picard, Belgium, EPP

Bühler, Germany, EPP

Debarge, France, SOC

Dhaille, France, SOC

Dumont, France, SOC

Ehrmann, France, LDR

Forni, France, SOC

Hoeffel, France, EPP

Horn, Germany, SOC

Jeambrun, France, LDR

Junghanns, Germany, EPP

Legendre, France, EDG

Le Grand, France, EDG

Le Jeune, France, EPP

Lemoine, France, SOC

Leoni, Italy, SOC

Lesein, France, LDR

van der Maelen, Belgium, SOC

Maass, Germany, EPP

McNamara,United Kingdom, SOC

Marten, Germany, EPP

Mattéi, France, LDR

Maximus, Belgium, SOC

Michels, Germany, EPP

Mignon, France, EDG

Mitterrand, France, SOC

Muehlemann, Switzerland, LDR

O'Hara, United Kingdom, SOC

Scheider, Austria, SOC

Schluckebier,Germany, SOC

Schreiner, France, EDG

Schloten, Germany, SOC

Speroni, Italy, NR

Squarcialupi, Italy, SOC

Staes, Belgium, EPP

Terborg, Germany, SOC

Valleix, France, EDG

Vermot-Mangold, Switzerland, SOC

Zierer, Germany, EPP

¹ .        SOC: Socialist Group       EPP: Group of the European People's Party

      EDG: European Democratic Group       LDR: Liberal, Democratic and Reformers Group

      UEL: Group of the Unified European Left       NR: Not registered in any political group