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Abstract

The Convention on the future of Europe will try to get a broad support for its proposals so that they have the best chance to be accepted at the 2004 intergovernmental conference. Rather than coming up with a compromise that would maintain the present EU's division between the Community pillars and the intergovernmental pillars, il would be desirable if the Convention was to synthesise the two approaches. It is necessary to balance the attachment of each state to its sovereignty and a desire to be directly linked with the definition and implementation of EU's policies on the one hand, with the need to abolish the veto in an enlarged Europe, to bring Europe closer to its citizens, and to assure internal and external openness on the other hand. By progressively enlarging EU's areas of competence through a well-adapted and flexible process, especially taking into account the diversity of expectactions and capabilities of present and future members, it might be possible to come up with a satisfactory proposal.

Robert Toulemon is a retired French public servant. He worked for the European Commission.