The Co-Chairmen of the ECR Group in the European Parliament, Prof Ryszard Legutko (Poland) and Raffaele Fitto (Italy), welcomed the fact that the Heads of State and Government in the Council did not express an opinion on a convention to amend the EU Treaties on the issue of the future of Europe.

A majority in the European Parliament had called for such a convention based on the recommendations of the Conference on the Future of Europe, which had been specially organised for that reason but hardly acknowledged by the public.

Prof Ryszard Legutko said: “In all the hullabaloo surrounding the Conference on the Future of Europe, it has become abundantly clear that the European Parliament and, to some extent, the
Commission have taken on a life of their own, constantly seeking to expand their powers at the expense of other institutions or Member States. It is good that the Council is putting the brakes on this spook for now. Treaty changes built on the farcical Conference on the Future of Europe would be absolutely irresponsible, as they could affect the institutional balance of the entire European Union.”

Raffaele Fitto (Italy) added: “Those who always call themselves pro-Europeans and are in favour of a European unitary state wanted to give the public the impression for months that a majority of citizens wants further transfers of competences to Brussels and that treaty changes are virtually the most natural thing in the world. It has now become quite obvious that this is not the case. Member states have therefore rightly rebuked the overenthusiasm of centralisation advocates.”

The ECR Group had left the Conference on the Future of Europe at the end of April in protest against the lack of opportunities for participation and in light of open questions regarding legitimacy and transparency, for example in the formulation of conclusions, but also in financial terms.