Resolution addressed to the European Convention
Date: 2003-03-14
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: European citizenship, European convention, European identity, European integration, company constituted under civil law, social dialogue (EU)

C 61/170

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Official Journal of the European Union

14.3.2003

4. Conclusions

The Committee takes the view that the extension of transport
policy to the applicant countries in the near future is the right
choice. Enlargement will not only have consequences for the
present EU Member States and the applicant countries, but
will also offer possibilities and have consequences for other
countries, such as Russia.

This document considers the situation if enlargement includes
13 applicant countries. The essential point is that they take on

board the Community acquis and especially that they actually
implement it. The Committee has called for special attention
to be given to the latter, because in its view the consequences
of accession for administrative bodies and individuals in the
applicant countries are somewhat underestimated. Examples
of this are the shifting of the EU external frontiers and its social
consequences for customs staff and infrastructure. Similarly,
accession will have radical consequences in the fields of
transport safety and environment.

To sum up, the Committee takes the view that, in terms of
transport policy, enlargement is a sensible choice, but that its
consequences in many fields are underestimated.

Brussels, 19 September 2002.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Göke FRERICHS

Resolution addressed to the European Convention

(2003/C 61/27)

At its 393rd Plenary Session on 18-19 September 2002 (meeting of 19 September) the European
Economic and Social Committee adopted this resolution by 167 votes to four with six abstentions.

1. Preamble

In this resolution the Committee has decided to limit
1.3.
its comments to certain key considerations and standpoints
vis-à-vis the debate on the future of Europe. It reserves the
right to give its views at a later date on certain more specific
matters dealt with by the European Convention.

At European level the Committee is the institutional
1.1.
forum for consulting, representing, informing and expressing
the views of organised civil society, thereby allowing the
representatives of Member States’ economic, social and civic
organisations to be an integral part of the policy-forming and
decision-making process at Community level.

2. The European model of society

1.2.
The Committee’s special relations with Member States’
economic and social councils or similar bodies, and with
organised civil society in the third countries and geographical
groupings with which the European Union maintains struc-
tured relations enhance the added value and legitimacy of its
action in favour of a politically more accessible, more trans-
parent and more participatory Europe. The close relations
which the EESC has established with civil society organisations
not represented in its midst also help boost this added value
and legitimacy. The Committee intends to strengthen these
relations.

2.1.
The EESC expects the Convention to redefine the
European Union’s constitutional foundations. This new defi-
nition will (i) be marked by a balance between cultural diversity
and political unity and (ii) allow the European model of society
to develop while at the same time fostering socio-cultural
identities.

2.2.
The work of the Convention concerns the very essence
of the European identity and the European venture, and the
values on which this venture is based, and is not concerned
solely with ‘competences’ and the distribution of powers.

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As an expression of adherence to common values,
2.3.
culture is a basic element
in the European identity. The
Committee calls for the future constitutional Treaty to interpret
the concept of culture in such a way that EU policy in this
sphere helps to build a genuine community of values while at
the same time guaranteeing the blossoming of national and
regional cultures.

The Committee reiterates its support for the develop-

2.4.
ment of European Union citizenship.

2.10.
It is essential for the Union to be given the instruments
needed to implement effectively a common immigration and
asylum policy based on solidarity.

Policies for

2.11.
integrating immigrants need to be
improved. The Committee calls on the Convention to examine
the possibility of granting Union citizenship to third country
nationals with long-term resident status.

2.5.
This makes it necessary to define an institutional
architecture that is endowed with a strong democratic legit-
imacy within which:

3. Participatory democracy, civil dialogue and social

dialogue

(i)

(ii)

the powers and responsibilities of the institutions are
defined more clearly and

the socio-cultural variety offered by European countries
and the solid and continuous advances made by economic
and social cohesion form the basic elements of a partici-
patory European identity which is shared by all.

3.1.
The Committee advocates that representative democ-
racy be strengthened by developing participatory processes
which allow civil society organisations to be involved at an
early stage in the process of framing policy and preparing
decisions and in implementing these decisions. By ensuring
the participation of those directly concerned, civil dialogue is
a key factor in enhancing the European Union’s democratic
legitimacy.

2.6.
The Charter of Fundamental Rights constitutes in this
respect an ethical, social and political commitment and is a
key factor in creating this common identity. It reflects recog-
nition of a community of rights and duties which all citizens
endorse and embrace. The Committee calls for the Charter’s
incorporation in the constitutional Treaty.

2.7.
The Committee thinks that the Union must assume a
greater share of responsibility at international level and speak
with one voice. It urges (i) that the Union be given the
institutions which would enable it
to conduct a genuine
common foreign policy based in particular on the ideals of
peace, democracy, solidarity and economic well-being, and (ii)
that it support the development of civil societies in the
partner countries and ensure their effective involvement in
its cooperation programmes by providing for appropriate
arrangements, as it has already done, at the suggestion of the
in the Cotonou agreements and in the context of
EESC,
Mediterranean cooperation.

The EESC brings enhanced added value to the Union’s
2.8.
action in the external relations sphere thanks to the structured
dialogue it is continually developing with representatives of
civil society in the applicant countries and with the partner
countries of the Mediterranean, Africa, the Caribbean and the
Pacific, Latin America, Russia and Asia.

3.2. Without prejudice to its structure and competences,
the EESC has a key part to play in organising the civil dialogue
and is its natural focus.

3.3.
In this regard, a clear distinction should be made
between (i) dialogue with and between civil society organis-
ations, and (ii) social dialogue. The European social dialogue is
a mechanism with quasi-legislative powers. It is clearly defined
in terms of participants, powers and procedures.

3.4.
The participation and specific responsibilities of the
social partners must be developed within the framework of
moves to reinforce the European social dialogue.

The call for civil dialogue rests on the principles of
3.5.
democracy and subsidiarity. The subsidiarity principle not only
concerns the distribution of powers between the various
territorial levels, but is also the expression of a participatory
conception of relations between public authorities and society
and of the freedoms and responsibilities of citizens. When
deciding who is to be involved in the preparation of decisions,
account should thus be taken not only of territorial (vertical)
subsidiarity but also functional (horizontal) subsidiarity, which
is a major factor in good governance.

2.9.
The Committee thinks that the Union’s competences
with regard to justice and home affairs must be strengthened
in order to respond to the public’s concerns about combating
crime in all its manifestations.

3.6.
Both the social dialogue and the practice of co-
regulation and self-regulation, which reflect a sharing of
responsibilities between the institutions and interested parties,
are part of this good European governance.

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4. Economic and social governance

4.1.
The EESC calls for economic policies to be coordinated
in such a way as to make the most of the Union’s potential
for growth and employment, for the reinstatement of the
Commission’s right of proposal and mandatory consultation
the Committee in the procedure for drawing up the
of
economic policy guidelines,
for a better mix of macro-
economic and structural policy instruments, and for a sus-
tained dialogue between the various players involved in macro-
economic policy, the social partners in particular.

The Committee calls for full employment to be men-
4.2.
tioned explicitly in the constitutional Treaty as one of the
objectives of the Union and for the relevant articles of this
Treaty to state more clearly that economic and monetary
policy must contribute to the attainment of the objective of
growth and full employment.

4.3.
The Committee calls for the Union to adopt the
instruments necessary for making a success of the Lisbon
strategy aimed at making Europe the most competitive and
dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of
sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and
greater social cohesion.

4.4.
The Committee also stresses that the success of the
Lisbon strategy must be supported by the implementation of
the Gothenburg Council conclusions, thus incorporating all
the essential principles for the achievement of sustainable
development.

4.5.

The Committee also calls for:

i)

ii)

iii)

a strengthening of economic and social cohesion policy
and the unification of procedures and arrangements in
order to improve their efficiency and ensure that civil
society organisations are involved effectively;

support for innovation and entrepreneurship in all its
diversity in accordance with the lines of action defined in
the European Charter for Small Enterprises in particular;

the insertion in the constitutional Treaty of a specific
reference to the provision of services of general interest
as being one of the areas that the Union,
in close
cooperation with the Member States, must develop in
order to attain its objectives, and a provision ensuring
that priority is given to the general interest goals pursued
by the services concerned;

iv)

stronger instruments to combat financial fraud in cooper-
ation with the Member States.

4.6.
The Committee considers that, without prejudice to the
Union’s legislative powers, the open method of coordination
constitutes an important instrument for furthering economic
and social cohesion provided that the social partners and other
relevant civil society players play an effective part. The
Committee calls for a legal basis in the constitutional Treaty
for this method — in the monitoring of which it intends to be
involved.

4.7. With regard to the financing of Community policies, it
is necessary to ensure that over the long term EU revenues are
sufficient to finance commitments. The Committee urges that
a new system of financing be introduced. Consideration should
be given to boosting the Union’s own resources.

The Committee calls for a lasting reform of the policy-
4.8.
forming and decision-making processes at Union level, based
on the principles of solidarity, transparency, coherence, subsid-
iarity, proportionality and openness.

The simplification of

4.9.
legislative processes and of
Community legislation itself is an urgent necessity and a
prerequisite for enlargement; it will give economic and social
players and the general public a better understanding of
Community policies and the European integration process. In
this context the EESC calls for the European institutions to
adopt codes of conduct for simplifying the regulatory process,
and the need to enhance the impact assessments which should
accompany all draft regulations by including an examination
of possible alternatives.

4.10.
The Committee thinks that greater support should be
given to co-regulation by combining a Community framework
with input from the parties concerned in pursuit of greater
flexibility and efficiency.

4.11.
The Committee also requests that the constitutional
Treaty give it the chance to fulfil its role even better by being
systematically consulted upstream of the legislative process
and in particular by receiving more requests from the other
institutions for exploratory opinions.

4.12.
As the Union extends the network of consultations
to enhance the quality of democratic governance, the EESC
considers it can act as a bridge between the Commission and
organised civil society, as illustrated by the success of the
recent Stakeholders’ Forum on Sustainable Development in
September 2002.

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4.13.
Finally, the EESC considers that it would be strength-
ened in its role if it were granted the status of institution in the
new constitutional Treaty.

5. Conclusions

5.1.
The Committee reiterates its belief that every effort
must be made, at all levels, to involve European citizens fully
in framing a blueprint for an enlarged Europe so as to give this
the European
project genuine substance.
public’s persistent concerns about a lack of transparency and

In the face of

involvement in the European integration process, it is vital
that the Convention’s work generate a vision of the future of
Europe which encourages Europeans to support and identify
more closely with this process.

5.2.
The EESC reaffirms its willingness to continue to play
in full its role in the European Convention and, in accordance
with the resolution which it adopted on this subject (1), to
contribute in particular to involving organised civil society as
widely as possible in the debate on the future of Europe.

(1) Resolution on the future of Europe of 17 September 2001 — CES

1033/2001 fin.