Once again, Member States talked about the Conference on the #FutureofEurope. And it appears that, for many, the future of Europe should not include treaty reform — which remains an absolutely necessary condition for a true #EuropeanDemocracy. via @POLITICOEurope
Likewise, there is opposition to @guyverhofstadt, long-time MEP and Belgian PM for 10 years, as Conf President. Member States want a former Head of State/Gov.... but not so "former". Somehow, recent experience in the @EUCouncil is more important than in the @Europarl_EN?!
Member States have always acted to be the custodians of treaty change in #Europe and to limit citizen or parliamentary involvement. It is time to walk the talk and actually give Europeans a say. Not just on policy, but on what the EU should look like. #Schuman20@federalists
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Over the past several years, @EDC_eudemocracy has made many, many requests to the European Parliament to access decisions by its Bureau on the funding of #europeanparties. These included decisions for funding (for the coming year) and final accounts (which wrap up the process).
Invariably, these documents were provided with heavy redactions over the parts covering the EP's reasoning for its decisions: we could see the outcome (amounts), but not how decisions were made. Until yesterday, the latest full document related to funding for 2015 -- 8 years ago.
To be clear, the point of this thread is *not* to argue that TNLs will make our common election less European, simply that they will not remedy the election's core deficiency (that national parties are in control) and that, therefore, they are not the right way forward. 3/25
Of course, "the @EU_Commission shall be completely independent" and "the members of the Commission shall neither seek nor take instructions from any Government". (Art. 17.3 TEU #LisbonTreaty). So there should be no need for #1country1commissioner rule. #IamEuropean 🇪🇺
Furthermore, "As from 1/11/2014, the @EU_Commission shall consist of a number of members [equal to] two thirds of the number of Member States" (Art. 17.5 TEU #LisbonTreaty)..... "unless the @EUCouncil [...] decides to alter this number". Which it did right away. #IamEuropean 🇪🇺
When we talk about simplifying administrative processes (#smartstate), we don't mean "big" things, just a collection of small things that contribute to making people's lives needlessly more complicated, especially abroad. Here's a silly example with a birth registration. 👇 1/7
A child is born in #Austria and registered with local authorities. Local authorities issue, for free, an original Austrian birth certificate in German and are thoughtful enough to include, for free, an original international birth certificate in multiple languages. 2/7
However, #French authorities will not accept the international birth certificate because it says "extract"; instead, they want a full version, even just in German. This requires us to book an appointment with local authorities and, this time, pay for a new original. 3/7