What is required to make the EU a global superstar in defence and decision-making?
That is what the first two ALDE Party Congress Great Debate panels discussed last weekend at the ALDE Party Congress.
Debate one explained that building a crisis-proof union that is truly resilient in defence requires a whole-of-society approach. Dominic Fritz from ALDE member USR drew on his experience as Mayor, explaining that resilience must start locally:
“We need to connect with voters and speak about issues they care about, by using a language that they listen to. I think we’re far behind the curve. We need to adapt and condense our solutions into 30 seconds for the citizens online.”
Swedish Minister for Climate and Environment Romina Pourmokhtari added:
“If you focus on creating well educated citizens across generations, you create a vaccine against disinformation and strong independent people who are more prone to a free society and liberalism.”
On disinformation, Hadja Lahbib urged citizens to be aware of the threat of deep fakes and manipulated media: “today’s threat is in your pocket with disinformation.”
Bernard Quintin, Belgium's Minister of Interior spoke about the appetite for protest and confrontation throughout the 1970s and 1980s, but this waned until the 2010s, only returning noq. He claims the challenge now is reconnecting and empowering citizens.
The second debate analysed the EU’s decision-making problem amidst global instability. Reforming this process would bolster a European diplomatic superpower that speaks with one voice. Diana Buzoianu, Minister of Environment, Water and Forest in Romania spoke about the delays with legislative changes:
“In cases of national security, we should go back to a qualified majority voting system."
Former Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Kiril Petkov called for more transparency and more directly elected representatives at European level. Georges-Louis Bouchez, MR Party Leader, seconded this: “if you want to be a great leader you need legitimacy."
Anna Stürgkh, Austrian MEP pushed for further fiscal competences and some ideas for direct representatives at European level:
“A two-chamber system: a truly European parliament that represents the European idea more than the national. And a second chamber made up of national representatives. Cuts through the national question and party politics that is happening.”
These robust debates offered expert insight into current challenges faced by Europe while presenting innovative ideas for to make Europe a true global superpower in the areas of defence and diplomacy.
You can rewatch the debates in full below or on YouTube.