Timely extra-ordinary congress on Europe - Main contents

On Saturday December 10th D66 held an extra-ordinary congress on Europe, titled "Europe, fast forward". ELDR President Sir Graham Watson, MP Gerard Schouw, MEP Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy and ELDR Vice-President Lousewies van der Laan, presented their analysis of the state of the EU and ideas for the future. In break-out sessions the 90 participants could debate the role of the Dutch parliament in EU legislation or learn about the campaign to make Utrecht Europe's cultural capital in 2018. The D66 Europe working group gave a presentation on things we agree on in Europe, with firm rooting in Europe's history from 1300 - now.

Graham Watson commented that the title of his speech "Europe, fast forward" could not have been better since the past two days of negotiations did just that: make Europe go fast forward. Notwithstanding this move forward, he regretted the UK's decision to not join the other 26 (or 27 now that the accession agreement with Croatia has been signed) member states. Watson stated "Europe used to stand for security or prosperity, nowadays it stands for solidarity - to jointly meet global challenges". The road ahead for the EU should be the road of intergovernmental leadership, with a strong parliament and commission to counterbalance Merkozy. The rule of law, balanced budgets, single market in services and freeer trade with third countries will constitute the basis for Europe's future stability and prosperity according to Sir Graham. Hecomplimented D66's work in the European Parliament and in the Netherlands: "D66 is the backbone of free-spirited and left-wing liberalism, in a tradition that runs from Erasmus to Amartya Sen". Watson concluded his speech by stating that liberal democrats believe in "Moralpolitik" instead of "Realpolitik".

D66 International Secretary Robert Farla presented the first issue of the IDEE magazine "Rule of Law: fundamental rights and shared values in Southeast Europe" to Graham Watson. In this magazine experts and young politicians from the region share their views on the challenges to the Rule of Law in the region, notably on minorities' rights and corruption. Furthermore the magazine contains articles on the role of civil societies, cultural legacies and the perspective of EU accession. This publication is a joint initiative by the International Democratic Initiative foundation and D66 think tank Mr. Hans van Mierlofoundation.