On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Rome Treaties, the PDE / EDP,

REAFFIRMS

its commitment to relaunch the process of European integration, which has ensured for a continent blighted by two world wars and totalitarianism, decades of peace in freedom, free movement and economic, social and civil growth.

In the face of today’s challenges, it is no longer enough to simply cling to the great intuitions of the Founding Fathers and what has been achieved in the past 60 years, and what is also the greatest peaceful success of integration between peoples and nations that history has ever known.

That is not enough.

THIS IS THE EUROPEAN UNION THAT WE DEFEND AND REVIVE.

A new “Community” impetus from the Union’s Member States is needed in order to prevent the recurrence of choices such as “Brexit” and to counteract the isolationist and xenophobic wind that is spreading everywhere.

There is a need to revive the process of integration, which may be brought into question by the absence of decisive policies in the field of protection against inequalities, European common security, in particular against the terrorist threat, active solidarity with refugees and those who would like to leave their futureless countries to legally integrate, energy and digital unions, dissemination of “best practices” in education, training, health and innovation.

This requires a budget for the “Community” dimension of Europe and sufficient (and increased) own resources without which no truly unifying perspective is possible.

There is also a need for joint efforts by the civil society and the institutions, at different levels, to strengthen the DEMOCRATIC DIMENSION of Europe by the leading role of the Commission and the European Parliament, with a view to the full realization of the monetary and banking union, as well as a fiscal convergence policy, with greater transparency because Europe can no longer be built without the citizens’ express consent.

The time leading up to the forthcoming European elections – scheduled for 2019 – should be devoted by the institutions (European Parliament, Commission and Council), national governments and parliaments, respecting the subsidiarity principle, to explain to European citizens why the European Union is an irreplaceable opportunity and not a problem.

Priority must be given to the single currency, an ambitious yet unfinished project, – a Minister for Finances for the Euro zone is needed – to the participation of European citizens and their representative associations in the adaptation of the treaties to a profoundly transformed world and to solidarity between Member States, as a key factor for social prosperity and job creation.

The PDE / EDP, heir of reformist traditions inspired by the democratic, liberal, Christian- Democratic, secular and federalist values that built Europe on the ashes of the Second World War, this great area of freedom and social justice that the history of humanity never knew,

RENEWS

its commitment to ensuring that the European political space, represented by the European Union, continues to be the laboratory of human coexistence and economic and social progress that we TOGETHER have succeeded in creating.

To this end, the PDE / EDP

DEMANDS

that the forthcoming European summit will define a detailed roadmap for the relaunch of the integration process, paying particular attention to issues of security and common defence, refugee management, immigration and the protection of European borders, the reinforcement of policies for the inclusive growth of the European economy, social rights and the definition of the mechanisms of “enhanced cooperation”, which are now indispensable after Brexit, and to prevent disintegration through integration.