‘The Lisbon Treaty and Citizenship in Europe’
Report on the 8th April event at the EDC
A panel discussion entitled ‘The Lisbon Treaty and Citizenship in Europe’ was held on
8th April at the European Documentation Centre, housed at the Institute for European
Studies at the University of Malta. The event was organised in collaboration with the
European Commission Representation, Malta. The panel was composed of Mr Martin
Bugelli (Head of European Commission Representation Malta), Professor Roderick
Pace (Director of the Institute and Jean Monnet Chair), Dr Mark Harwood (Senior
Lecturer in European Studies) and Dr Marcello Carammia (Lecturer in European
Studies).
Following a brief introduction by Mr Bugelli on the main theme, the European Year of
Citizens 2013, the discussion turned to the rights which come with EU citizenship. Mr
Bugelli commented that it is not sufficient to speak about citizenship, but also about
citizens, and that in this regard it is important to give information to citizens about the
EU. Citizens have to be informed, each at their own level of knowledge and
understanding, about the rights and obligations which come with EU citizenship. Mr
Bugelli stressed that there would be little use in having such rights if citizens were not
adequately informed of them. It is precisely because of this that the Commission is
dedicating this year to EU citizens.
Professor Pace spoke on the topic of ‘More Powers to the European Parliament and
European Citizenship’. He illustrated the privileges which come with EU citizenship,
including both tangible and intangible benefits. Amongst these, Professor Pace
mentioned the single market and EU-wide food safety regulations as examples. He said
that, as EU citizens, people stand to benefit more than they would as citizens of their
individual nation state. Professor Pace also discussed the current economic crisis and
how this is causing many to associate the EU and EU citizenship with the negative
developments. However, he also noted that opinion polls show that a majority of
persons still believe that the EU is more adept at dealing with the crisis than the
individual member states. Professor Pace expressed his view that the European Year of
Citizens could be important in giving citizens renewed hope in the EU.
Turning to the role of the European Parliament in the crisis, Professor Pace said
that although the Lisbon Treaty has given the Parliament significant power, it still does
not play a major role in the economic crisis, and is rather marginalised. He expressed
the opinion that the European Parliament’s marginal role in the crisis would not help
increase voter turnout at next year’s European elections. Professor Pace concluded by
saying that the European Year of Citizens should be an occasion to provide EU citizens
with an opportunity for greater involvement in the issues related to the economic crisis.
Dr Harwood subsequently delivered a talk entitled ‘The Committee on a People’s
Europe and the Politics behind EU Citizenship’. Dr Harwood said that the Committee,
also known as the Adonnino Committee, was set up 30 years ago to find ways of
creating a greater link between citizens of the EU’s member states and the EU’s
political institutions with the intention of creating a People’s Europe as opposed to a
technocratic Europe. Referencing the Eurobarometer report of EU Citizenship for 2012,
Dr Harwood argued that while 60% of EU citizens identified with being European,
statistics still showed a close association with national identity, while less than 50% of
European identified themselves with being attached to the EU, which could indicate
that attempts to create a People’s Europe had under performed. The Committee had
brought forward many practical recommendations on how to create a greater link
between the EU and its citizens, with the purpose of establishing an EU identity.
Amongst these were an EU anthem and an EU flag, together with more practical goals
such as the four freedoms and recognition of qualifications gained across the Union.
Despite this, polls have shown that the ‘cultural’ dimensions of the Committee’s
recommendations, in particular the EU flag and anthem, appear low on the list of
factors which EU citizens associate with citizenship and have taken second place in
importance to more concrete aspects of the EU, such as free movement and the single
currency,. The problem such aspects of identity pose centres on the fact that many of
these key components of EU identity, especially the single currency, are now in
jeopardy because of the economic crisis. .
Dr Harwood opinionated that there seemed little interest in using the
conventional symbols of citizenship which apply to member states (such as having a
flag and national anthem) when referencing the EU, but that the focus should be on
consolidating the more important, practical benefits of membership, such as a free and
prosperous internal market.
Dr Carammia delivered the final talk of the discussion, entitled ‘The EU governance
after the Lisbon Treaty: institutional complexity and democratic legitimacy’. Dr
Carammia said that the Convention on the Future of Europe, which eventually led to
the Lisbon Treaty, had amongst its aims that of addressing EU’s institutional
complexity. After having illustrated the symbolic and substantive failures of the project
of an EU Constitution, Dr Carammia argued however that if such a democratic deficit
exists it does not lie in EU’s complex institutions and cumbersome decision-making
procedures. He summarised the main positions in the academic literature – pointing out
how different views about the EU’s democratic deficit are related to different
understandings of what the EU is and should be – and joined the positions of those who
argue that the lack of an opposition within the EU would inevitably attract opposition
toward the EU. The conclusion of his talk was that the EU is departing from the model
of a ‘regulatory state’ concerned with the efficient regulation of economic activities,
and is increasingly dealing with redistributive policies. Redistribution, in turn, raises
political conflict, and if such conflict is not made the object of contestation within EU
institutions it can only attract discontent toward the EU as a whole – and against the
very project of EU integration. In his view, a politically legitimised EU government,
one that is also opposed by a minority competing on the basis of an alternative
programme of government, would be an effective way to depoliticise EU integration
(what the EU is) while focusing political conflict on EU activities (what the EU does).
Following Dr Carammia’s talk, the audience engaged in a discussion with the panel.
Several questions were addressed to the panel discussants, resulting in a lively debate
on EU citizenship.
At the end of the discussion, on behalf of the European Commission Representation in
Malta, Mr Bugelli presented a number of academic books to Professor Pace, which are
to be kept at the European Documentation Centre.