| QCEA
Responses to the Convention on the Future of Europe
Initial Submission from the Quaker Council for European
Affairs to the Convention on the Future of Europe:
A
Quaker Vision of Europe
The
Quaker Council for European Affairs (QCEA) is currently undertaking
a consultation with Quakers across Europe on the issues facing the
Convention. The result of this consultation will be a report which
will be submitted to the Convention in due course. At this stage
we would like to raise some of the key points of concern to Quakers.
In
this initial contribution to the Convention we focus on three key
challenges outlined in the Laeken Declaration: “how to
bring citizens, and primarily the young, closer to the European
design and the European institutions, how to organise politics and
the European political area in an enlarged Union and how to develop
the Union into a stabilising factor and a model in the new, multipolar
world.” In addition, another challenge is implicit in
the Declaration, that of identifying in a simple and understandable
form “the values which the Union cherishes”.
In
answer to the first challenge, we stress the importance of civil
dialogue. We see a Europe that recognizes all the myriad
forms its citizens use to express themselves and gives hearing to
them. The right of citizens to have a political voice gives
the European institutions a responsibility to listen and take such
voices seriously. In answer to this question the Laeken Declaration
focuses on questions of institutional and procedural reform. Such
reform is necessary but not sufficient to bring citizens closer
to the EU. In addition, thought needs to be given to education and
the role of the media. The citizen must be enabled to exercise
judgement if democracy is to be more than an empty shell. The right
to free expression is empty if it cannot be exercised intelligently
on the basis of adequate information.
To
the second challenge, that of the organisation of European politics,
we call for a Europe of just and equitable structures, a
Europe that is governed transparently, a Europe where the principle
of subsidiarity gives substance and form to democracy, where information
is freely accessible, where institutions and individuals are accountable,
where integrity is rewarded. The values of transparency,
subsidiarity, democracy, accessibility, accountability and integrity
are crucial if we are to achieve the aim of a Europe where
its governments are at the service of their communities.
The
third challenge is that of the role of Europe in a new globalised
world. This is a time of great opportunity for Europe. The internal
values of Europe must be reflected in the actions of Europe towards
the rest of the world in particular by promoting social and economic
justice. We must recognize our interdependence and realize
that our success can be secured only by the success of the entire
world system. The European project is an example of the success
of co-operation in preventing war. We urge the Convention
to consider how Europe can share and apply this experience of peaceful
conflict prevention and resolution, to be creative in exploring
how Europe can play a leading role in the world without resorting
to military might. We abhor and radically reject war as
a way to resolve international conflict.
Finally,
we feel it is fundamental to the work of the Convention to identify
the “values which the Union cherishes”. Our
Quaker vision sees a Europe that is striving to become a
peaceful, compassionate, open and just society. Looking
outwards our ambitions must shun dominance and aim rather
for harmony, equity, reconciliation, and shared prosperity.
The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union provides
a starting point for the expression of European values. This document
should be given legal force and used as the basis for the clarification
of aims of the European project.
We
urge the Convention to consider the coherence of the values, aims
and structures of the European Union and to bring forward a new
vision for all the citizens of Europe and of the world.
The
text above was sent to the Convention on the Future of Europe as
an initial contribution along with the text of the ‘Quaker
Vision of Europe’ adopted by the QCEA Council in December
2001.
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