Future enlargement of the European Union

The largest expansion of the European Union (EU), in terms of territory, number of states, and population took place on 1 May 2004. The simultaneous accessions concerned the following countries: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia.  

But before that came a few words about the past.

With the end of the Second World War in 1945, Europe found itself divided between a capitalist Western Bloc and a communist Eastern Bloc, as well as Third World neutral countries. The European Economic Community (EEC) was created in 1957 between six countries within the Western Bloc and later expanded to twelve countries across Europe. European communist countries had a looser economic grouping with the USSR known as Comecon. To the south there was a non-aligned communist federated country – Yugoslavia.

And Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill  said:

“From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia; all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject, in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and in some cases increasing measure of control from Moscow”. 

In 1989, the Cold War between the two superpowers was coming to an end, with the USSR's influence over communist Europe collapsing. As the communist states began their transition to free market democracies, aligning to Euro-Atlantic integration, the question of enlargement into the continent was thrust onto the EEC's agenda.

The largest expansion of the European Union, in terms of territory, number of states, and population took place on 1 May 2004.

The simultaneous accessions concerned the following countries: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Seven of these were part of the former Eastern Bloc (of which three were from the former Soviet Union), one of the former Yugoslavia, and the remaining two were Mediterranean islands and former British colonies.

On 1 May 2004 ten new countries with a combined population of almost 75 million joined the EU. This historic enlargement of the EU from 15 to 25 members is the culmination of a long accession process leading to the reunification of a Europe that had been divided for half a century by the Iron Curtain and the Cold War.

In Poland, the largest new EU member, a chorus sang in a Warsaw square and a video screen showed scenes of Poland's climb from post-World War II destruction through communist domination to democratic rule. At the German-Polish border, the hoisting of the EU flag was accompanied by fireworks and the "Ode to Joy" from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

At the Italian-Slovenian border, European Commission President Romano Prodi presided over a reunification ceremony in the Italian town of Gorizia and the Slovenian town of Nova Goricia, divided by an iron fence since the end of World War II.

"May 1 will be a milestone in the history of Europe," EU Enlargement Commissioner Guenter Verheugen said.

"It is Europe's response to the end of the Cold War and an opportunity to heal the wounds of the past, wounds of war and dictatorship."

Romano Prodi said:

"Five decades after our great project of European integration began, we are celebrating the fact that Europeans are no longer kept apart by artificial ideological barriers. […] We share the same destiny and we are stronger when we act together. I urge all Europeans to join in celebrations of this astonishing achievement."

On 1 January 2007, Bulgaria and Romania became member states of the European Union in the fifth wave of EU enlargement. Croatia joined the European Union on 1 July 2013.

We are still waiting for the accession of the other countries of the former Eastern Bloc to the European Union - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia.

 

"We can build the European Federation"

The reform of the European Union - more democracy and less bureaucracy.

The reform of the European Union - more democracy and less bureaucracy.

I.  Current state

Currently, the European Union is quite often perceived as a bureaucratic and undemocratic monster seeking to consume the free nations of Europe. This is not entirely true because the European Union is a body that has an impressive level of democracy for the non-state actor. There are two sources of democratic legitimacy in European Union: the European Parliament, chosen by the citizens of the individual Member States; and the Council of the European Union, together with the European Council (of heads of national governments), that represent the peoples of the individual states. The European Commission (the executive branch) is appointed by the two bodies acting together. Democratic legitimacy within the European Union can be compared with the dual legitimacy provided for in a federal state. 

European Commission

The Commission European is reestablished every five years. Individual members of the incoming Commission are nominated by Member State governments and the proposed Commission is (or is not) approved jointly and severally by the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament. If European Parliament passes a vote of censure, the Commission must resign. The nomination of the President of the European Commission should "take account" of the result of the European parliamentary elections, interpreted by the larger parliamentary groups to mean that the European Council should nominate the candidate proposed by the dominant parliamentary group in European Parliament. From the point of view of democratic legitimacy fears arise the fear is that a "semi-elected"  President of the European Commission might be "too partisan to retain the trust of Member State leaders; too weak to win the loyalty of citizens of the European Union". 

European Parliament

In according the Lisbon Treaty, European Parliament lacking the power to determine the direction of European Union Law, with the European Commission being "the only institution empowered to initiate legislation" and having a "near monopoly on legislative initiative" according to Union sources. This system diminishes European Parliament to a vetoing body, with an inability to enact any legislation not already approved and submitted by the European Commission. De facto this makes the European Commission the de facto primary legislative body, which is not democratically elected despite having sole control over the proposition of new laws, a power usually associated with parliaments. According to Article 225 of the Lisbon Treaty, giving to European Parliament a means to request proposals to the European Commission, but this is creates no obligation on the Commission and is legally non-binding, with the European Commission only needing to "inform the European Parliament of the reasons" for rejecting a legislative proposal. 

So we are dealing with governments of technocrats, totally dependent on the Council of the European Union. Legislative initiative in the European Union rests almost entirely with the European Commission, while in member states it is shared between parliament and government. The European Parliament, on the other hand, can only propose amendments, but these proposals are successful in more than 80% of cases, and even in controversial proposals, the success rate is almost 30%. 

 

Council of the European Union

The Council of the European Union is one of three legislative bodies and together with the European Parliament serves to amend and approve the proposals of the European Commission. The Council represents the executive governments of the EU's Member States. 

The Council of the European Union and the European Council are the only EU institutions that are explicitly intergovernmental, that is forums whose attendees express and represent the position of their member state's executive, be they ambassadors, ministers or heads of state/government. Voting in the Council is usually by qualified majority voting, and sometimes unanimity is required. 

European Council

The European Council is a collective body that defines the European Union's overall political direction and priorities. It comprises the heads of state or government of the EU member states, along with the President of the European Council and the President of the European Commission. The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy also takes part in its meetings. 

You can not accuse the European Union of being non-democratic. At most, the European Union is an imperfect democracy. The European Union needs more transparent governance. Meanwhile, important decisions are made behind closed doors, often by officials who nobody chose. 

II. How it should be

      Chamber of Deputies

The Chamber of Deputies shall be composed of 645 Deputies. The Chamber of Deputies shall be chosen each for a 5-year term of office. Each Member State constitutes an electoral constituency. The number of representatives per each Member State is set out in the European supplementary law, in proportion to population. Necessary adjustments are made in the year before the election, so that no Member State had no less than 3 and not more than 96 seats. The Chamber of Deputies may shorten its term of office by a resolution passed by a majority of at least 11/20 of the votes of the statutory number of Deputies. 

Currently, deputies run between Brussels and Strasbourg, which is a waste of time and a waste of public money. In addition, there is the General Secretariat which is located in Luxembourg. It's time to end this European 'parliamentary circus' and the seat of the Chamber of Deputies will be only City of Brussels. 

Senat 

The Member States shall participate through the Senat in the legislation and administration of the Union. The Senat shall consist of members of the Member State governments, which appoint and recall them. Other members of those governments may serve as alternates. At the head of delegation of a Member State, the Prime Minister of that Member State. At the end of the legislature of a Member State or on its dissolution, sent members of the government of a Member State now hold office until such time as a new Member State parliament will elect a new government of a Member State. The Senat shall act by a qualified majority. A qualified majority shall be defined as at least 11/20 of the Member States of the European Union, which together hold at least 3/5 of votes in the Senat. 

The legislative procedure

The Senat is the upper chamber, which along with Chamber of Deputies — the lower chamber — comprises the legislature of the European Union. I suggest that the two houses together form a perfect bicameral system, meaning they perform identical functions, but do so separately. I suggest that the two houses will be form a perfect bicameral system, meaning they perform identical functions, but do so separately. So no law can enter into force without the consent of the second chamber. The exception is to be only the budget act, which is to be finally established by the Chamber of Deputies. 

The right to introduce legislation shall belong to Deputies of the Chamber of Deputies, to the Senat, to the President of the European Union and to the European Executive Council. 

The right to introduce legislation shall also belong to a group of at least 500,000 citizens having the right to vote in elections to the Chamber of Deputies. The Chamber of Deputies proceeds to consider the project within 60 days of its submission. The procedure in such matter shall be specified by European law. 

European Executive Council

The  European Executive Council  shall be composed of the President of the  European Executive Council  (Prime Minister) and ministers a total of 15 members at most. In one Member State can not be selected more than two members of the  European Executive Council. 

The process of forming the  European Executive Council begins with the nomination of the President of the  European Executive Council by the President of European Union. The President of the  European Executive Council will then propose the composition of the cabinet, which must then be approved by the President of the Union. Despite the president's nominating role in choosing a  President of the  European Executive Council and approving the composition of the cabinet, however, the presidency's role is strictly limited, as the President of Union must respect the majority wishes of the Chamber of Deputies. Furthermore, the President of Union is forbidden to select a different cabinet composition than the one already selected by the  President of the  European Executive Council. Following their nomination, all members of the cabinet take the oath of office within the Presidential Palace, in a ceremony officiated by the President of Union. Within fourteen days of its appointment, the cabinet, headed by the President of the  European Executive Council, is obligated to submit an agenda to the Chamber of Deputies together with a vote of confidence. Should the vote of confidence fail, the process of government formation passes to the Chamber of Deputies, which will then nominate a President of the  European Executive Council within fourteen days, who will then again propose the composition of the cabinet. An absolute majority of votes in the presence of at least half of all Chamber of Deputies deputies is required to approve of the cabinet, which the president will then accept and administer their oaths of office. Should a vote of confidence fail again, the process of nomination is handed back to the presidency, who must again appoint a President of the  European Executive Council, who will then nominate other members of the cabinet. If the vote of confidence fails a third time, the president is obliged to shorten the Chamber of Deputies's term of office and order new elections. 

I proposal the  European Executive Council are collectively and individually responsible only to the Chamber of Deputies for the operations of the government. The cabinet must respond to questions from  Chamber of Deputies deputies during each sitting session of the chamber. The cabinet must also respond to interpellations within 21 days of their submission. Despite being responsible to the  Chamber of Deputies, the cabinet is not responsible to the Senat, and does not rely on the upper house's confidence to continue its term of office. During sessions of the Chamber of Deputies, members of the  European Executive Council, including the President and Vice-president, are seated in the government box within the chamber's plenary hall. 

The Chamber of Deputies can pass a vote of no confidence on an individual ministers if the motion receives the support of at least 65 deputies. If the motion is successful, passed by a majority vote, the President of the European Union will recall the ministers from office. Similarly, if the  European Executive Council loses its majority support within the Chamber of Deputies, the cabinet can be forced to resign in a constructive vote of no confidence. The motion must be approved by at least 65 deputies, and then passed by a majority vote. In such an event, a new President of the  European Executive Council must be simultaneously appointed. The President of the  European Executive Council is also empowered to call a vote of confidence in the cabinet, requiring a majority vote from at least half of all present deputies. In the event of the President of the  European Executive Council's resignation or death, the President of the European Union can either accept or refuse the cabinet's resignation of office. Following a parliamentary election, the President of the  European Executive Council must submit the cabinet's resignation in the first sitting of the newly elected Chamber of Deputies. After its resignation, the cabinet is entrusted to continue administering state functions until the appointment and oaths of office of the new government. 

Legally, the  European Executive Council will be also held accountable to the Court of Justice of the European Union for infringements upon the constitution or other legal statues. Upon a motion by either the President of the European Union or by 162 deputies, a member of the cabinet can be charged to be brought forth to the Court of Justice of the European Union, and then require the approval of at least three-fifths of all Chamber of Deputies deputies to begin the proceedings. 

President of the European Union

The president is elected for a term of three years by secret ballot, without debate, by a specially convened European Parliamentary Assembly which mirrors the aggregated majority position in the Chamber of Deputies and in the parliaments of the Member States of the European Union. The convention consists of all Chamber of Deputies members, as well as an equal number of electors elected by the Member State legislatures in proportion to their respective populations. 

The President is elected by terms; as head of state, supreme commander of the Armed Forces, and supreme representative of the European Union. The President, as representative of the Union in foreign affairs, shall ratify and renounce international agreements, appoint and recall the plenipotentiary representatives of the European Union and shall cooperate with the President of the European Executive Council and the appropriate minister in respect of foreign policy. As Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, the President shall appoint the Chief of the General Staff and commanders of branches of the Armed Forces. 

European Council – liquidation

European Economic and Social Committee – liquidation

European Committee of the Regions – liquidation

One language as an official language of the European Union

Esperanto is, without prejudice to the linguistic and cultural diversity of the Member States, the official language of the Union. Member States shall determine their official languages .To ensure harmonious coexistence between linguistic communities, they point out the traditional linguistic structure of the region and take into account the indigenous linguistic minorities. It shall be the duty of the Union to promote the spread of the Esperanto language, to develop it so that it may serve as a medium of expression for all the elements of the composite culture of European Union. 

The Member States succeed each other in alphabetical order Esperanto every six months in the chairmanship of the Council of the European Union. In command and military training in the European Armed Forces can be, in accordance with the European law, use the Esperanto language, and of his units can be used languages of the Member States. 

Choosing a neutral, artificial and international language like Esperanto will help European Union and Member States maintain a separate identity and lessen the claim that it only serves one culture or national interest. No ethic group or nation gains from the promotion of Esperanto, neither does anyone lose from its advance.