The Report of the Five Presidents: A Missed Opportunity

The report presented by Presidents of the five EU institutions identifies all the essential challenges the EU is facing and acknowledges the need for “a new convergence process” to root out the imbalances that triggered the economic and financial crisis. However, the report is deceptive, since it takes for granted that the EU has as much time as it requires at its disposal to enact reforms; and it is misleading because it subordinates the supranational dimension of policies to the responsibilities of the Member States. Very little is proposed with regard to countercyclical policies in the Eurozone, and the focus is on common monitoring of fiscal compliance. The report continues to evoke a “Europe of Sovereign Nation States” without any significant progress toward Political Union. The report misses an opportunity to send a clearer signal about what a stronger federalist approach could accomplish, especially from a multi-decade standpoint.

Translation of the article “Documento ingannevole fuorviante irritante”, published in AffarInternazionali, 30 June 2015. Translated by Darragh Henegan.