Hablamos de Europa: “The future of Europe: is institutional reform necessary?”

CIDOB (Barcelona Center for International Affairs), in collaboration with the Jean Monnet Chair on the Transformative European Union Law Power (TEULP) and the Chair of European Affairs of the University of Murcia; and with the support of the Hablamos de Europa programme of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation will tackle the debate on the institutional reform of the EU in the context of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union and in accordance with the priorities Hablamos de Europa programme. On the margins of the General Affairs Council of the European Union to be held in Murcia on September 27 and 28, CIDOB, in collaboration with the University of Murcia, organises a discussion session between experts and policy-officers from member states directly involved in the institutional affairs of the EU.

The new geopolitical challenges and the enhanced attention to enlargement process have also generated a renewed interest in debating the governance of the EU. The conclusions emanating from the Conference on the Future of Europe include proposals that imply a revision of the Treaties and others that affect decision-making in the Council within the framework of the current Treaties. For this reason, the first part of the debate will focus on the possibilities of undertaking an institutional reform and the second part will delve into the mechanisms that could allow progress in European integration without the need to modify the current Treaties (such as passerelle clauses, greater use of the qualified majority, or differentiated integration, among others others), and the possibility to make use of them as an opportunity to bringing European integration forward.