Pro-European EP Groups on the Future of Europe

For the past few years, discussions on the Future of Europe are happening on multiple levels. From the institutional side with the European Commission’s White Paper on the Future of Europe (2017) to citizens involved in the Conference on the Future of Europe (2020-2022), diverse actors are voicing their expectations and possible plans for the future of European integration. The European Parliament (EP) presents in this perspective a particularly interesting arena, as it involves parliamentary actors holding diverse – if not opposed – competing positions regarding the Future of Europe. This paper zooms specifically on pro-European groups in the EP and analyses their proposals for the Future of Europe. While the opposition towards the EU and the contestation of European integration have proven to be a subject of interest for many scholars, the last years brought also more light to pro-European actors. Pro-European parties and parliamentary groups are indeed taking an active part in the discussion notably by engaging in debate with critics of the EU. By providing a qualitative analysis of a selection of EP plenary sessions and of European Party manifestos on the Future of Europe, our paper maps pro-European positions towards the future of European integration, as well as requested reforms. Our focus is on the ninth EP and investigates EPP, Renew, Greens/EFA, S&D and GUE/NGL groups. The paper presents the research conducted within the framework of the H2020 project entitled ‘EU Differentiation, Dominance and Democracy’ (EU3D).