FUEN attends conference on differentiation inside the European Union

Today, on 17 November 2016, FUEN legal advisor Frank de Boer attended the conference "Differentiation: A new pragmatism or the end of ever closer union?", organised in Bruges by the College of Europe and the European University Institute.

Over the past years we have seen diverging views among the EU Member States about the future of Europe and its policies. The position of the United Kingdom after the election on Brexit is the most striking example, but also groups of other states may go further or less far in terms of European integration.

The conference examined whether it is feasible or desirable for smaller groups of Member States to act alone to address the problems that Europe is currently facing. What will be the consequences? Will cooperation among fewer Member States be more effective or will it contribute to unravelling the European Union? Will small groups of willing Member States be able to act without undermining the single European market and weakening the fundamental freedoms on which it is based? 

Debates on the effects of deeper Eurozone integration on those countries that do not have the Euro, the possibility of (temporary) restrictions on the freedom of movement, greater involvement of national and regional parliaments on EU legislation and external effects, e.g. on trade agreements were topics of debate among many high ranking legal and policy experts from across Europe.  Several professors and practitioners, among them Jonathan Faull, the former Director-General of the task force for issues related to the UK referendum and Paul Nemitz, the Director for fundamental rights and citizenship at the European Commission presented their experience and research.

The big question for the European autochthonous, national minorities remains as what all of these developments mean for the minority protection regime in Europe? Would it be possible to develop a stronger protective framework among minority-friendly states, or does differentiation mean that fundamental rights and the rule of law will be watered down by some Member States, bringing many European minorities in a more vulnerable situation instead.

It is too early to tell now, but the conference provided a lot of insight in the current developments and the legal structures that determine what the European Union will look like in the near future. 

More information:
Programme of the conference
Homepage of the conference