Through an Intergovernmental Decade: All Heads on Deck! | Madariaga

Madariaga - College of Europe Foundation

Through an Intergovernmental Decade: All Heads on Deck!

Madariaga Speeches - January 2010

Talking at the first annual forum of nine leading Brussels think tanks, Pierre Defraigne addressed the Opening Plenary with his thoughts on the European Union after the Lisbon Treaty and its ability to deal with the global recession in his speech entitled 'Through an Intergovernmental Decade: All Heads on Deck!'. Defraigne explained that while the Lisbon Treaty strengthens the EU in many ways, it not only offers no further objectives, but embeds unanimity in key areas and puts huge pressure on the European Council. Pointing-out that the coming decade will be marked by greater intergovernmentalism, Defraigne also explained how only the collective leadership of Heads of State and Governments and the President of the Commission under President Van Rompuy's chairmanship can break the deadlock over the EU's economic governance and defence.

With the tone clearly set the forum split into four parallel working groups;

Workshop One - Leadership Lost? Developing the EU Climate Policy Model after Copenhagen;

Workshop Two - Dealing with Europe's Economic Challenges in a Post-Crisis and Post-Lisbon World;

Workshop Three - Stockholm Plus: Transforming Political Goals into Coherent Policies on Migration, Social Cohesion and Human Rights;

Workshop Four - Towards New Global Governance in a New Global Order: How can the EU Position Itself?.

Speaking in the second workshop co-organised by the Madariaga - College of Europe Foundation, the European Policy Centre and Bruegel, panelists and audience members addressed the two-fold challenge of short-term crisis management, and the longer-term need for structural re-orientation. Speaking on the EU2020 Strategy, the workshop agreed that Europe must return to financial, fiscal, monetary and structural normality but that quite what one considers 'normal' has to change. Concluding, panelists surmised that the key question is ascertaining what Europe's role in a future global economic order characterised by the US' continued role as the engine of innovation and competitive pressure from rapidly emerging economies will be.

Read Pierre Defraigne's Speech