In the margins of the European Committee of the Regions' (CoR) May plenary the ECR Group held their group meeting with the participation of Professor Tomasz Grosse. ECR members were delighted to welcome the Professor, also serving as a member of the CoR High-Level Group on European Democracy, to discuss the CoR's work in the context of the Conference on the Future of Europe.
Professor Grosse clearly stated that the work of the High-Level Group is devoted to democracy, which lies at the "basis of the functioning of local and regional authorities (LRAs) in the EU". The fundamental question is how can the democratic participation of LRAs be reinforced, and for him, this should be the main mission and focus of the High-Level Group.
A topic close to the heart of the ECR Group is the principle of subsidiarity and the Professor urged for the High-Level Group's efforts to be focused on this principle, and in particular its implementation in two contexts: subsidiarity of high-level authorities in relation to local and regional authorities; and subsidiarity of the EU in relation to Member States.
"Should power be shifted to the European level it should most certainly not be at the cost of Member States and LRAs", he said. "Any improvement in how European policies are drawn up should be done taking subsidiarity into consideration", he continued. The Professor reiterated the importance of achieving "an adequate balance of powers between EU and national authorities and within the Member States".
Professor Grosse concluded on how we can ensure the success of the Conference, which for him comes down to the mobilisation of society - "we must make sure the voices of citizens are heard". It must be communicated that the online platform of the Conference exists and is up and running, "a great vehicle for presenting opinions and recommendations". He also said that it's very important that conservatives get organised so that people who do not regard Europe as a centralised body can also voice their opinion. "Social mobilisation should not just be used by forces who see Europe as federation of states".
The creation of the High Level Group on European Democracy (HLG) was endorsed by the CoR Bureau in December 2020 following a proposal of the Conference of Presidents of the CoR. The HLG is composed of seven European "wise men and women": Herman Van Rompuy, former Prime Minister of Belgium, and President Emeritus of the European Council; Joaquin Almunia, former European Commissioner for Competition and for Economic and Financial Affairs; Tomasz Grzegorz Grosse, Professor of the University of Warsaw; Rebecca Harms, former Member of the European Parliament (MEP); Silja Markkula, President of the European Youth Forum; Maria João Rodrigues, former Minister for Qualification and Education of Portugal and MEP; and Androulla Vassiliou, former Commissioner for Health and for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth.
The meeting took place online on 30 April.