The challenges of the (faltering, stuttering) European project, and the consequent approach of the future, are qualitatively different from those of the Member States.
Unlike the Member States, the EU is plagued by a deficit of legitimacy, by an inability to generate widespread loyalty, and by the incapacity to mobilize and direct citizens' energies. These weaknesses stem - among other things - from its current lack of a clearly defined, explicit purpose, and from the absence of a European (EU-connected) identity. I suspect that a geopolitical actor can survive in the absence of one or the other, but not both.
One key challenge / task of government with a European scope and flavor would be to provide a European identity, through specifically European tokens - i.e., embodied institutions / structures / practices, with a powerful rhetorical presence and a significant impact on citizens' daily lives, capable of fostering a sense of belonging and shared destiny. One such tangible and ubiquitous, but still imperfect and restricted, symbol of European-ness is the Euro; another one, insufficiently used, is the European flag.
One key challenge / task of government with a European scope and flavor would be to provide a European identity, through specifically European tokens - i.e., embodied institutions / structures / practices, with a powerful rhetorical presence and a significant impact on citizens' daily lives, capable of fostering a sense of belonging and shared destiny. One such tangible and ubiquitous, but still imperfect and restricted, symbol of European-ness is the Euro; another one, insufficiently used, is the European flag.
In other words, the EU should take a page from the nation-state handbook, but this is bound to generate serious resistance, grounded in a restrictive understanding of the principle of proportionality ("the action of the EU must be limited to what is necessary to achieve the objectives of the Treaties").
This might be circumvented by invoking the key objective of the EU treaties (to "lay the foundations of an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe", as specified in the Preamble of the Consolidated TEU). It can be argued that an "ever closer union" requires a shared identity (additional to, and not replacing the national ones). The argument might be reinforced by presenting both the potential added value of EU action and the cost to the EU of not acting, or the "cost of non-Europe" (see The Principles of subsidiarity and proportionality: Strengthening their role in EU policymaking).
Once the need for a EU-connected identity is established, the principle of subsidiarity sets the appropriate level of action - at EU, not national, level : "the Union shall only act if the objectives being pursued cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States, but by reason of the scale or the effects of the envisaged action, rather be better achieved at Union level."
Examples of European tokens :
- European Identity Document, underpinned by a European Identification Number. To generate support and speedy adoption by the citizens, the EU ID should come with tangible benefits like being used for secure online authentication, or at airports' biometric access automated gates. The EU ID might have some support in Article 20 §1 of the Consolidated TEU : "Citizenship of the Union is hereby established. Every person holding the nationality of a Member State shall be a citizen of the Union."
- European CV, stored in a centralized European database, implementing the Once-Only Principle, to be used as data source for all job applications.
- EU-LEX, an AI system that could help citizens navigate the legal and administrative system of any EU country, and provide practical legal and administrative assistance (information about rights and entitlements, filling in forms, petitioning, and appealing the relevant bodies on behalf of citizens).
- European Volunteer Service, and the accompanying online community, to channel young people's idealism, energy, and propensity for unselfish deeds. To quote the US Peace Corps Act, the purpose would be "to make available to interested countries and areas men and women of the [European Union] qualified for service abroad and willing to serve, under conditions of hardship if necessary, to help the peoples of such countries and areas in meeting their needs for trained manpower."
We could also experiment with novel forms of citizen input, that are increasingly becoming technically feasible. One such form would be a system of proxy / quasi-direct online EU democracy, implemented in a format using many of the features of social media, with citizen access being possible only by using the aforementioned EU ID. Such a system could cover at least partially the legitimacy deficit of the EU. I have first encountered this idea in The Probability Broach by L. Neil Smith (esp. p. 220-228).
Under this system, citizens follow European (EU) policy / legislative debates and cast their vote through representatives / proxies to which the individual vote is transferred; citizens can also vote directly, if they so desire.
The proxies are not professional politicians, elected in office for a fixed term, but volunteer citizens (nevertheless compensated financially). They are "at large", not necessarily coalescing the votes from any specific, predefined territorial unit.
Proxies / representatives are chosen and endorsed by their followers based on political affinities as well as perceived ability and willingness to adequately reflect and express the views and preferences of the constituents, and - preferably - their long-term interests; any other criterion for endorsement, like good looks, would be equally valid. Endorsement of a proxy is not predefined temporally, as in the case of the term in office of the elected officials, but can be granted or withdrawn at any moment, and is only frozen right before the vote. Thus, the group of proxies has a very fluid composition in terms of the number of votes each of them commands.
Each citizen has a public profile, presenting his/her biography, political views, participation and voting record; based on this profile, others could chose the respective person as their personal proxy. Everybody can be the follower of just one proxy. Being a follower means the vote cannot be cast directly. If a proxy decides to become a follower, it automatically loses the proxy / representative status and the ability to cast in bulk the votes of the followers.
Proxies can initiate legislation, either individually or jointly, subject to the same coverage criteria (total number of followers, with a minimum number of followers in a minimum number of member states) as current citizen initiatives.
This post started as a modest contribution to the debate on The Future of Government.
The proxy online democracy idea was offered for consideration in the forum on Prospects for e-democracy in Europe.