The statement below by Friends of Europe, a leading Brussels-based think tank for EU policy analysis and debate, was co-signed by 25 European personalities in its Board (former European Commissioners, former (prime) ministers and top officials). It calls for a set of specific decisions to be agreed on in the lead-up to or at the European Summit of Heads of State & Government later this week, and puts in perspective the financial and economic crisis, the Lisbon Treaty and the Lisbon Agenda for overhauling Europe’s global competitiveness.

Download this statement in PDF.

The financial crisis has already highlighted both the strengths and the weaknesses of the European Union. Had it not been for the euro, the shock waves from the meltdown in September and October would have spread to the currency markets, creating tensions that would have set Europe’s political and economic integration back by decades, perhaps imperilling the whole project.

Much less positively, EU member states have been slow to concert. At first it was the European Commission that drew criticism for its slowness in making proposals to rally national governments and their policymakers. Now it is member states that are many of them resisting the urgent need for a coordinated EU-wide policy response to the deepening crisis.

The speed and the severity of the economic slowdown are far greater than any of the post-war downturns of the past 60 years. In Europe, we by and large failed to heed the warning signals of the US sub-prime mortgage crisis in the late summer of 2007, and thus were unprepared when the next phase of the crisis engulfed European banks too. The lesson to be drawn is that the EU must move more quickly and with greater determination than has been the case so far.

Throughout the EU people are asking “what is Europe doing to fight the crisis?” The answer is “not nearly enough”, and the political price may be high at next summer’s European Parliament elections.

The remaining weeks of 2008 will be crucial to Europe’s efforts to regain the initiative and to attempt to attenuate the effects of the crisis while also addressing outstanding problems on the EU reform agenda. As Trustees of Friends of Europe, we would urge the European institutions along with EU political leaders to renew their efforts regarding both the Lisbon treaty and the Lisbon Agenda.

France’s EU Presidency has done much to improve coordination between member states of responses to the financial crisis, and the European Commission has also begun to play the more active role that Friends of Europe called for on October 10. The challenge now is for the presidency and the Commission to give fresh political impetus to the EU’s stalled reform drive.


The December 11-12 European Council should signal clearly the timetable envisaged for re-opening the Lisbon treaty’s ratification process and thus clearing the way for its streamlining of EU decision-making responsibilities. Failure to do so would bring the risk of still greater political problems after next June’s European elections.

The Lisbon treaty is a step towards adapting the EU’s decision-making mechanisms to the 21st century and a EU of 27 or more countries. The global nature of the present crisis makes it plain that Europe must be able to decide quickly and coherently, or suffer adverse consequences. There seems little doubt that public opinion right across the EU is increasingly drawing the same conclusions.

The sovereign right of the Irish people to decide their own future is unchallengeable. But Ireland should also allow the EU’s other member states to proceed with the Lisbon treaty if that is what they wish. Even if another referendum is to be held in Ireland, the Irish government should foresee a procedure that, irrespective of the outcome, allows other member states to implement the essential parts of the Lisbon treaty.

The Commission now needs to take action to ensure that member states redouble their efforts with regard to the Lisbon Agenda for overhauling Europe’s global competitiveness. In 2000 the EU set a 10-year programme of agreed reform targets, yet in many cases its member states have lacked the political will to implement these. Europe’s increasingly gloomy prospects make these reforms more necessary than ever, not less.

Viscount Etienne Davignon is President of Friends of Europe. He is a former Vice- President of the European Commission.

Giles Merritt is Secretary General of Friends of Europe and Editor of the policy journal Europe’s World.

The following Friends of Europe Trustees support & endorse this text:

• Edmond Alphandéry is President of the Supervisory Board of CNP Assurances. He was France’s Minister of the Economy from 1993 to 1995.
• Giuliano Amato was Italy’s Prime Minister from 1994 to 1996. From 2000 to 2001 he served as Vice President of the Convention on the Future of Europe.
• Joachim Bitterlich is Executive Vice President of Veolia Environnement in Paris. He was formerly Foreign and Security Policy Advisor to Federal Chancellor Helmut Kohl and German Ambassador to NATO and then Spain.
• Laurens Jan Brinkhorst is the former Dutch Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Economic Affairs.
• Günter Burghardt was Head of the European Commission Delegation to Washington D.C.
• Robert Cox is a former Senior Advisor to the European Community’s Humanitarian Office (ECHO). His previous appointments have included that of Commission Representative to Turkey.
• Jean-Luc Dehaene was Belgium’s Prime Minister from 1992 to 1999. He served as the Vice President of the Convention on the Future of Europe. He is Vice Chairman of the European Parliament’s Delegation for relations with the People’s Republic of China.
• Baron Philippe de Schoutheete was for many years Belgium’s Permanent Representative to the EU.
• Anna Diamantopoulou is a Member of the Greek Parliament and a former EU Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs.
• Franz Fischler was formerly European Commissioner for Agriculture and Fisheries and Austrian Minister for Agriculture and Forestry.
• Daniel Janssen is the former Chairman of the Board of Directors of Solvay and a member of the Steering Committee of the Trilateral Commission.
• Sandra Kalniete was formerly Latvia's Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Commissioner in charge of Agriculture and Fisheries.
• Wim Kok was the Netherlands’ Prime Minister from 1994 to 2002. In 2004, he chaired the High-Level Working Group on the Lisbon Strategy.
• Horst Günter Krenzler was Director General for External Relations of the European Commission.
• Vytautas Landsbergis is a Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the European Parliament. He is a former President of Lithuania.
• Stefano Micossi is Director General of ASSONIME, and was formerly Director General for Industry in the European Commission.
• Riccardo Perissich was formerly Director General for Industry in the European Commission.
• Keith Richardson was Secretary General of the European Roundtable of Industrialists.
• Michel Rocard is a former Prime Minister of France. He is a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament.
• Dirk Sterckx is Chairman of the European Parliament’s Delegation for relations with the People’s Republic of China. He is a former TV news anchorman.
• Frans Van Daele signs in his personal name.
• Guy Verhofstadt was Belgium’s Prime Minister from 1999 to 2008.
• António Vitorino was European Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs. He is a former Portuguese Minister for Defence.
• Karel Van Miert is a former Vice President of the European Commission for Competition.
  

WHAT FRIENDS OF EUROPE'S TRUSTEES HAD TO SAY:

"The Commission's plan for economic recovery makes the best possible use of the existing levers, but it also demonstrates we have to go further in effectively coordinating our economic policies and in promptly allocating common resources for our most urgent needs. The Lisbon Treaty is an essential step forward." GIULIANO AMATO

"The EU should underline that its crisis management efforts have not been a one-off commitment, and that it emphasizes its engagement and responsibilty for leading the world out of this crisis of confidence." JOACHIM BITTERLICH

"If ever we need a political Europe, this is the time." LAURENS JAN BRINKHORST

"The financial crisis is global. The EU can only contribute to solutions acting as a global actor when speaking with one voice." JEAN-LUC DEHAENE

"At a time of global financial turbulence, Europe must demonstrate the merits and advantages of concerted action and coordinated efforts. Now is the time for Europe's politicians to demonstrate the leadership that Europe needs, to formulate distinctly European answers to global questions and to set the course for fundamental reform." ANNA DIAMANTOPOULOU

"The present crisis requires urgent and farsighted political decisions and therefore strong political leadership. Europe should not only react to the consequences of globalisation but should globalize its model of a sustainable social market economy." FRANZ FISCHLER

"The present crisis has shown even more how important it is to strengthen the EU. Hence, the absolute necessity to ratify the Lisbon treaty." HORST GÜNTER KRENZLER

"In Europe, we have yet to really grasp the full impact of the crisis which is only beginning. So Europe is needed all the more, even though we still suffer from a lack of leadership."
PAUL RÉVAY

"It's a dramatic but crucial opportunity to convince people of the value and the necessity of the European Union." KAREL VAN MIERT