By Charles Grant, with Katinka Barysch, Hugo Brady, David Buchan, Clara MarinaO’Donnell, John Springford, Stephen Tindale and Philip Whyte
Center for European Reform, London, October 2013, pp. 74
Despite its many achievements, the EU’s institutions and policies are badly I n need of an overhaul, This CER report proposes a series of reforms, designed to achieve two objectives, First, make decision-making in the EU more accountable. Giving national parliaments a bigger role could improve accountability as well as strengthen “subsidiarity”- the principle that the EU should act only when strictly necessary. Second, improve the efficiency of the European Economy. The CER would further extend the single market into services, simplify free trade agreements with other parts of the world, and redirect the WEU’s budget towards growth- boosting projects. Many of these proposals could be implemented without changing the EU’s treaties. They are all practical ideas that should appeal to reform- minded governments across the EU.
