On 23-24 May 2008, the European Movement International organized the Congress of Europe in The Hague to celebrate the 60th anniversary of one of the most important European events, which resulted in the establishment of the Council of Europe and, later, the European Union. Our representative, Davor Jancic, Director for International Relations of the Youth Dialogue Programme, attended this gathering as an author of one of the 60 ideas for the future of Europe. The idea of enhancing European democracy through a reformed involvement of national parliaments in EU decision making was selected as one of the 20 best ideas of the “Political Europe” workshop.

In their addresses, Mr Hans-Gert Pöttering, President of the European Parliament, Mr José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, and Mr Janez Jansa, President of the European Council, emphasized the significance of cooperation among the EU Member States in tackling contemporary challenges, such as energy policy, climate change, environment protection, but also the improvement of communication between the EU and its citizens. In the field of economic and social policy, the accelerated process of globalization, in which the EU needs to remain the world leader, as well as the regulation of immigration, were stressed as top priorities. In the field of education, the special emphasis was put on the need to further develop educational programs such as Erasmus.

During the last part of the Congress, the representatives of the European political parties underlined the necessity to further democratize the relations between the European Commission and the European Parliament, which was heartily supported by the audience.

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