The European Council in December 2007 decided to establish a ‘reflection group’ of no more than nine people, selected from across the Union on the basis of merit, to identify the key issues which the European Union is likely to face in the future and how these might be addressed.
Now the group, led by Felipe González, has issued its report “PROJECT EUROPE 2030: Challenges and Opportunities” (via Ralph Grahn).
There are some concrete proposals that I find interesting:
Economy:
- Further developing the internal market, e.g. in the area of services;
- Social security rights should, once and for all, be readily transportable between Member States;
- Extension of the availability of e-infrastructure to houses, schools and businesses;
- Development of healthcare, well-being and age-related industries and services;
- Giving leadership for economic coordination to the European Council;
- Reinforcing procedures for supervision of national budgets to ensure transparency as well as the sustainability of public finances.
Education and Innovation:
- Developing flexible and open curricula capable of nurturing curiosity and creativity among children;
- Building a network of top-level higher education establishments able to rival the best in the world;
- Ensuring that universities have greater exposure to the real economy in Europe and the rest of the world;
- More funding is needed for applied research that would benefit SMEs.
Demographic Challenges:
- Family-friendly policies aimed at stabilising or increasing fertility levels should be put in place;
- Provide the conditions in which people, in particular women with young children, and older workers, can remain in the workforce;
- Removing the legal, administrative and cultural barriers to promote greater intra-EU labour mobility;
- Retirement should become an option for individuals rather than an obligation;
- A common immigration policy for the EU should set out a specific medium- to long-term strategy for targeting skilled immigrants;
- A common approach to irregular immigrants.
Energy Security and Climate Change:
- The headline target for energy efficiency should be raised to 50 per cent by 2030, from the currently agreed 20 per cent by 2020;
- Move away from oil as the primary source of fuel for transport by encouraging bio-fuel standards and electric and hybrid vehicles;
- Develop intelligent energy networks (smart grids);
- Recourse to nuclear energy;
- Develop unconventional energy sources such as tight gas and shale oil.
- Internal and External Security:
- Increasing the powers of existing agencies and instruments, such as Europol, Eurojust, the Situation Centre, Frontex and the Counter-Terrorism Coordinator;
- Create a European civil reserve team of specially trained units ready to be deployed at short notice;
- Develop a more integrated external border management system;
- Agree on a workable strategic concept for the EU defence.
Foreign Relations and Enlargement:
- Build a global economic strategy that takes into account the euro as the world’s second reserve currency;
- Stay open to potential new members from Europe;
- Develop an enhanced role in stabilising its immediate surroundings by building on the existing ‘European Neighbourhood Policy’, ‘Eastern Partnership’ and ‘Union for the Mediterranean’;
- Manage a strategic co-existence, modernisation and region-building policy with Russia;
- Pull the EU’s diplomatic, military, trade, and development policies together with the external dimensions of its common economic policies;
- Develop an EU approach to global governance reform.
The European Citizens:
- More transparency and accuracy in the way we communicate EU policy-making;
- Avoid rhetoric and explain in plain language how EU adds value to its citizens’ lives;
- Encouraging Member States to grant voting rights in national elections to nationals of other Member States after a certain period of residence and tax payments;
- “Europeanising” European Parliament elections through the introduction of cross-border lists;
- Create a specific administrative instrument that would provide proof of European citizenship for individuals to use on a voluntary basis in order to access residence, employment and social security rights;
- Establish a system for evaluating the impact of EU law.
European Union Law 