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The Vice-president at the University in Lausanne: Change is of Key Importance for the Future of the EU

More than 300 representatives of the diplomatic corps, lecturers and students took part in the discussion after Iliana Iotova delivered a public lecture

“The EU? To what extent the EU? How much the EU?” – Iliana Iotova commented these three basic questions and the possible answers during the public lecture she delivered on “The European project: a look from the Bulgarian Presidency of the EU Council” at the Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration at the University in Lausanne. The Vice-president is visiting the university at the invitation of the Jean Monnet for Europe foundation.

“The debate today is not for or against Europe. It is about how the EU should change so that it can restore the trust of the European citizens,” the Vice-president said in front of more than 300 representatives of the diplomatic corps, lecturers and students. Representatives of the Bulgarian community in Switzerland also attended the lecture. “Change is of key importance for the future of the EU,” Iliana Iotova said.

The Vice-president is convinced that namely united Europe managed to cope with the economic and financial crisis. However, the difficulties it encountered showed that it has not implemented policies, mechanisms and tools for averting and facing such challenges. “Brexit is only one of the examples that showed what the European citizens’ mistrust and fear resulted in,” Iliana Iotova said.

In her words, the EU is remote and incomprehensible for the European citizens. “The five scenarios from the White Paper of the European Commission failed to accomplish their mission – they failed to provoke the so necessary talk about the future of the European project. Moreover a talk with the citizens, among the citizens,” Iliana Iotova noted.

The Vice-president identified the Multiannual Financial Framework as a key element in the debates on the future of the EU, in which the national governments and local authorities should be active. “One of the major priorities of the Bulgarian Presidency of the EU Council is preserving the Cohesion policy. In the Rome declaration, signed in March 2017, the cohesion policy was included at the request of President Rumen Radev.   It should not be replaced by a new type of financial instruments, neither should it compensate the deficit in the EU budget after Brexit, nor should the need to ensure more security and defense means be met by a decreased funding of other important policies,” Iliana Iotova said.

In the Vice-president’s words, the relations between the “old” and “new” member states is an important issue the future of the European project is facing. “The division into axes is counterproductive and it poses a risk of the disintegration of the European construction,” Iliana Iotova said.

The Vice-president was adamant that Europe chose the role of an observer, not that of a leader on the international scene. In Iliana Iotova’s opinion, the old continent, which bears the consequences of the conflicts and crises in different parts of the world, should help by implementing different projects so that the African countries could keep back the people who are escaping from poverty and conflicts.  “The refugee and migration crisis are the label of the current mandate of the European institutions. Bulgaria has adopted the position that the external EU borders should be more effectively protected because this ensures security for the citizens inside Europe as well,” Iliana Iotova emphasized.

The Union’s borders concern also the big issue about the relations with Turkey. “The EU should reach a consensus – is Turkey a country, a future member state, which should be both a bridge and a guarantee of the relations with the Muslim world, or one of the so called third countries, with which whenever a crisis arises, the EU prepares individual cooperation mechanisms,” Iliana Iotova noted.

The Vice-president highlighted that Bulgaria has made a courageous step by identifying the Western Balkans’ European integration as the major foreign-policy priority of its EU Presidency. The guests of the lecture highly appreciated this policy of the Bulgarian state. “Most importantly – Bulgaria managed to put this region, which is unstable and has a difficult fate, on Europe’s agenda,” Iliana Iotova said and voiced conviction that the EU should analyze the omissions in the previous enlargements and the risks the next ones are facing.

The Vice-president identified security as the greatest challenge the European citizens are facing. At the same time Iliana Iotova noted the danger of creating new division lines in Europe when establishing a common defense and a “new Schengen by forming a defense nucleus of states.” Iliana Iotova raised the issue of the double standards in the EU at the heated discussion after the lecture and gave as an example preventing the accession of Bulgaria and Romania to Schengen.

The Vice-president believes that the EU needs not only a change of policies, but also a reform of institutions. “Today the appointed people became stronger than the elected, bureaucracy replaced the visionary outlook,” Iliana Iotova said. She identified the European Commission as politically colored not only because of the election of its President, but also because of the election of the European commissioners. “The citizens do not actively participate in specifying the European leaders. And the states are only entities implementing policies,” the Vice-president emphasized.

“United Europe, according to the conception of its founders, does not mean depriving of sovereignty, but a better protection of the countries’ national interests. More Europe means more rights and social protection, it means equalizing the social standards,” Iliana Iotova said.  In her opinion, the European leaders should guarantee this by pursuing an adequate policy so that the turning away from the European idea can stop. “Why is there in the EU a penal procedure for budget deficit, but there is no such procedure for the high unemployment rate, increasing poverty, and most importantly – for the great number of working poor people,” the Vice-president asked.

Iliana Iotova identified as a consequence of the wrong policies the EU pursues the rise of populism and extremism. “This is the result of the regress in protecting human rights,” the Vice-president said. In her words, the fight against xenophobia will be the most difficult one.

“The real treatment for sick Europe lies in pooling efforts, coming up with new ideas and accumulating energy. We should turn our backs to the double standards not only in the relations between the member states, but also in the very talk about Europe,” Iliana Iotova said in conclusion.

Before the lecture Pat Cox, President of the Jean Monnet for Europe foundation and Jilles Grin, CEO of the foundation, showed to the Vice-president part of Jean Monnet’s archives, who founded the influential think-tank in 1978. The rich library preserves not only his documents, but also a lot of other documents from the history of the European project.