The contribution which an organized and living EU has brought over the last 68 years was indispensable to the maintenance of peaceful relations and social-economic development throughout the continent. However, the World (and Europe itself) has changed and the birth of the Serene Republic of Europe (SRE) is needed if we, as a continent, want to keep growing prosperous, with freedom and maintaining our liberal democracy alive.
The SRE is to put apart its internal grievances, unhealthy competitions, Brussels-blaming games and deliver what EU citizens expected of the EU, but it couldn’t deliver before.
As such, the SRE can only thrive if true citizenship is achieved, if all citizens, regardless of where in Europe they live, are granted the exact same civil, political, fiscal and social rights (and corresponding duties).
By pooling resources and by unifying all citizens under equal rights and duties, the SRE will lead to the realization of a true European confederation indispensable to the preservation of its peace, safety and liberal democracy.
In order to assure full equal rights among citizens, institutional reform must occur by having the Member-States remove themselves from the decision making of the process. The Council must make way for the creation of a Senate elected by the European citizens with the aim of representing their European provinces, metropolitan areas and special administrative regions (i.ei. the administrative units forming composing the SRE).
The Senate shall allocate the same number of Senators to each administrative unit. In a similar fashion, the Parliament is to be become the House of Representatives, where Representatives are elected by all citizens to represent them. Together, these two houses are to be known as the Serene Congress and become the exclusive legislative power of the confederation.
The Commission shall become the Serene Council and its role is to be the supreme executive and directorial authority of the confederation. It will act as the collective head of state and government and execute the legislation approved by the Serene Congress, coordinating its implementation with the states’ governments and legislatures.
The current European Council is to be extinct and in its place the joint session of both houses, shall take over most of its functions, namely, those related to “formal ratification of important documents” and “involvement in the negotiation of the treaty changes”.
Last, but not least, the institutional reform shall not be a mere rebranding and restructuring of supranational institutions, new powers are to granted to the confederation, i.e.: a federal tax; social security, health and pension systems along with the complete federalization of security, defense and foreign affairs. The completion of the monetary union together with the social, defense and foreign affairs unions, are the last steps needed to ensure the belonging and ownership of the European project.
Solidarity within the SRE is established by setting a common high-standard political and social playing field, making it materially impossible for Europeans to engage in grievances that divide them, as all share the exact same rights and duties of a true European citizenship.
Notwithstanding the above, the SRE must also recognize the specificity of the current outermost regions and northern sparsely populated areas, by granting them status aparte as Special Administrative Regions (SARs).
Similar conditions to the ones set on article 349 of the TFEU, will ensure that SARs are granted, within the confederation, sufficient powers to develop specific economic and fiscal policies that will enable them to participate in the confederation’s single market and in the world’s global economy.
The current European Council will be charged of securing in the shortest possible time a draft of the New Treaty with the goal of setting up the goals above mentioned and ensuring that the SRE, comes to reality, while ensuring that the draft fully reflects the 3 new pillars.
To achieve these objectives, starting from the very different conditions in which the social and political rights and duties within Member-States are at present situated, it is proposed that specific transitional restructuring fund is set in place along with the necessary mechanisms to complete the monetary union and the harmonization of social and fiscal policies.
The setting up of this powerful political and social unit, open to all states and bound ultimately to provide all their citizens with the essential elements of citizenship, will lay a true foundation for their social and economic unification, by raising not only living standards and promoting peaceful and economic achievements, but also by strengthening each state’s democratic institutions and their accountability.
With increased awareness of its potential, the Serene Republic Europe will be able to pursue the achievement of one of its essential tasks, the development of a continent where all are granted the same opportunities to develop themselves to their full potential, while ensuring that all have the same safety nets and rights.