”As a consequence of the crisis we need the perspective for a Political Union, but we want a Europe of Citizens and not only a Europe of Nation States, as recently put forward by Commission President Barroso“, said the President of the European Movement International (EMI), Jo Leinen, as a result of the discussions in yesterday’s EMI Board meeting.

The EMI Board welcomed this week’s final report of eleven EU foreign ministers in the framework of the “Future of Europe-Group”.

Leinen said in that context: “The debate about the future of the EU must not be limited to political circles and elites. The European Year of Citizens in 2013 has to be seen as an opportunity for a comprehensive dialogue with the civil society”.
“The Europeanization of the next EP election campaign is vital. The nomination of a European top candidate by each political group and the introduction of transnational lists could help to create a truly European political space”, added Leinen.

[ENDS]

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Editor’s Note: At its meeting in Warsaw on 17 September 2012 the Foreign Ministers of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Spain agreed on a final report, finalizing seven months of work of the so called Future of Europe Group.