Futuristic European Council
Agenda Item: The Revision of the Treaties of the European Union
Under-Secretary-General: Emre Türker
Academic Assistant: Burak Yağız Güllü
Introduction to the European Council
European Council is one of the seven main institutions of the European Union, where heads of government or state meet twice a year to discuss the current issues concerning Europe and the world. It does not directly get involved in the legislative process; however, the decisions taken by this body determine the direction toward which the EU progresses and provide guidelines for other EU institutions’ future activities.
Introduction to the Agenda Item
It is the year 2033, yet the European Union is far from being free of major problems. The governments of the member states are divided into left-wing, right-wing, pro-EU and anti-EUpolitical parties. Some governments believe that European integration should be strengthened and the EU should assume a more federalized and united form. Meanwhile, there are also other governments within the EU who believe that the EU has already become exceedingly supranational and going further will weaken the role of national governments. Both Germany and France have pro-EU leaders who have anti-EU coalition partners. By 2033, three new countries had joined the EU, and eight candidate countries are expected to join at an uncertain time in the future. The European economy is not in good shape either due to the enlargement of the Eurozone. Current territorial and political conflicts between Serbia and Kosovo, two candidate countries, continue. Between the returning Russia, rising China, and the reluctant USA, the EU is losing its international importance.
That is why thirty leaders from the thirty member states will meet in the European Council in order to address these issues within the legal framework of the EU. Does the EU need a revision of its constitutive treaties? How can political conflicts and economic problems in Europe be resolved? How can further integration in certain EU policy areas (Eurozone, Schengen, etc.) be achieved? Will the EU prevail as a global actor in the 2030s, or will it be divided even further? Even though the European Council is not part of the legislative process, the effects of the possible conclusions taken by the European Council cannot be denied.