The European Movement issued a declaration marking the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome ahead of the informal European Summit taking place the coming weekend in Berlin.

“The European leaders should ensure that the contemporary European project is an authentic political vision fit for a modern society and not only a platform for markets, economism and technocracy,” stated Pat Cox, the President of the European Movement, summarising the content of the declaration.

The declaration of the European Movement addresses the need for a renewed consensus on the institutional future of the EU, the need for the EU to become a model of an open Global Society, notes the internal and external challenges and suggests ways to increase citizens’ participation in the process of European integration.

You can read the full declaration here (PDF), below is a Press Summary:

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Press summary

The European Movement International:

Celebrates the sense of common purpose and hope engendered by the Treaty of Rome.
Commends the dynamic of enlargement.
Contends that these achievements were neither inevitable nor pre-ordained.
Asserts the need for strong and determined leadership and a high level of ambition for today’s generation of Europeans.
Urges the rebuilding of a consensus that conserves the innovative substance and progress represented by the new treaty.
Insists these core elements should not be diluted.
Calls for increased commitment, skill and determination in campaigning for the agreed outcome.
Believes that based on its values and capacity to act the European Union can be a 21st Century model of an open global society.
Observes that a segment of popular opinion seeks reassurance that the contemporary European project is an authentic political vision fit for a modern society and not only a platform for markets, economism and technocracy.
Recognises that anxieties provoked by the challenges of a globalised and increasingly interdependent world must be acknowledged honestly and addressed.
Presses the Union to act with more unity of purpose and visibility if it is to contribute its full potential as a good global actor relative to its size, capacity and values.
Calls for a more human face through greater investment of effort and resources in creating a European civic infrastructure in areas such as exchanges, twinning and volunteering.
Supports full respect for and implementation of the four freedoms.
Proposes that the time now has come to secure the financial autonomy of the Union.
Commits itself anew to the task of building a united Europe which will deliver peace, tolerance, prosperity and freedom to our peoples and to the wider world.