Streamlining the EU: Better governance without Treaty change

In this special edition of the European Council Experts’ Debrief, Jim Cloos and guest co-editor Giles Merritt have gathered comments from former practitioners and leading experts on how to improve governance in the EU without opening the Pandora’s Box of Treaty change. Building on an article co-published by TEPSA and the Egmont Institute in July 2024, the two have coordinated this major policy report on streamlining the EU.

“The prospects for overhauling of the European Union (EU) treaties to dynamise decision-making and equip the Union with greater financial firepower seem dim. But although the political mood in Member States is not conducive to change, the need for more concerted European responses to domestic and external crises is urgent. This is what this communication is about.“

This paper divides issues of governance into five distinct clusters: bandwidth, resilience, financing, global influence, and profile. In each cluster, three key elements are considered: a brief overview of the issues, analysis of the questions to be addressed, and a series of comments and suggestions penned by authoritative observers, many of whom are former senior EU officials.

In addition to an introduction by TEPSA Secretary-General Jim Cloos and Senior Associate Fellow of the Egmont Institute Giles Merritt, expert contributors to this edition are:

Claude-France Arnould, Former Ambassador, French Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Former Chief Executive, European Defence Agency, member of the  Bureau of EuroDéfense-France;

Tom De Bruijn, Former Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the European Union;

Pierre de Boissieu, Former Secretary General, Council of the European Union;

Giselle Bosse, Associate Professor and Jean Monnet Chair, Maastricht University;

Victor Burguete, Senior Research Fellow, Barcelona Centre for International Affairs (CIDOB);

Paul Culley, Former Director to the Secretary General, General Secretariat of the Council;

Cesira D’Aniello, Former Secretary General, European Ombudsman & Director of Human Resources, General Secretariat of the European Union;

Catherine Day, Former Secretary General, European Commission;

Nicole Dewandre, Visiting Professor, College of Europe in Bruges;

Niklas Helwig, Leading Researcher, Finnish Institute of International Affairs;

Jacques Keller-Noëllet, Former Deputy Director General, General Secretariat of the Council;

Mariam Khotenashvili, Executive Director, TEPSA;

Sabina Lange, Associate Professor, University of Ljubljana & Senior Lecturer, European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA);

Klara Lindström, Analyst, Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies;

Eric Maurice, Policy Analyst, European Policy Centre;

Luuk van Middelaar, Director, Brussels Institute for Geopolitics;

Manuel Müller, Senior Research Fellow, Finnish Institute of International Affairs;

Monique Pariat, Former Director General for Migration, Security and Crisis Management, European Commission;

Jakša Puljiz, Head of Department for European Policies, Institute for Development and International Relations (IRMO);

Beda Romano, Brussels Correspondent, Il Sole 24 Ore;

Sinikukka Saari, Leading Researcher, Finnish Institute of International Affairs;

Adriaan Schout, Senior Research Fellow, Clingendael Institute;

Leo Schulte Nordholt, Retired official (formerly in European Council Unit), General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union;

Dietmar Schweisgut, Secretary General, Austro-French Centre for Rapprochement in Europe (CFA/ÖFZ);

Jean-Paul Decaestecker, Retired official, General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union;

Marco Siddi, Leading Researcher, Finnish Institute of International Affairs;

Gerhard Stahl, Former Secretary-General, European Committee of the Regions;

Monika Sus, Associate Professor, Polish Academy of Sciences;

Pierre Vimont, Senior Fellow, Carnegie Europe;

Klaus Welle, Former Secretary General of the European Parliament (2009-2022); Academic Council Chairman, Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies;

Thomas Wieser, Fellow, Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (WIIW);

Fabian Zuleeg, Chief Executive, European Policy Centre.

L'intégralité de ce  document est disponible en pièce jointe ou
 à l'adresse https://tepsa.eu/policy-advice/streamlining-the-eu-better-governance-without-treaty-change/