Ten minutes were reserved for the French President to conclude the conference on the future of Europe.

But Emmanuel Macron didn't stick to it, he talked for a good half an hour.

After twenty minutes, the sentence that many in the Strasbourg plenary session had been waiting for fell.

In order to be able to decide efficiently, even in normal times, "we have to reform our texts".

The European Parliament has therefore called for the establishment of a convention to revise the European treaties, "and I agree with that," he said.

Applause erupted in the room where those members of the conference were sitting who, after a year of deliberations, had proposed far-reaching reforms.

Thomas Gutschker

Political correspondent for the European Union, NATO and the Benelux countries based in Brussels.

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Unanimity in foreign, tax and budgetary policy is to be eliminated, even if states are penalized under the Article 7 procedure for serious deficiencies in the rule of law.

So far, Hungary and Poland have been able to help each other;

that would be omitted.

Only the enlargement of the Union should be decided unanimously.

In addition, the European Parliament should be able to initiate legislation itself;

that is still reserved for the Commission.

Health policy should become a shared competence of the Member States and the EU Commission.

So far, the Commission has actually only been able to coordinate in this field, but its actual competencies with vaccine production in the pandemic went much further.

It won't work without changing the EU treaty

The so-called passerelle clause of the EU treaty could also be used to move to qualified majority voting, but everything else requires an ordinary amendment procedure, as regulated in Article 48.

According to this, the Parliament, as well as every Member State and the EU Commission, can submit drafts to the Council for amending the Treaties.

They can, as it is expressly stated, 'aim to increase or decrease the powers conferred on the Union by the Treaties'.

If the European Council, i.e. the heads of state and government, decides this with a simple majority, then a convention with representatives of the European institutions, the member states and the national parliaments will be convened to discuss changes.

They have to be decided unanimously by the member states and then ratified.

This requires referendums in several countries.

The European Parliament intends to initiate the convening of a convention in June, with a legislative report from the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, to be voted on in plenary.

The pro-European forces are counting on the French presidency to convince enough countries of the need for reform - and at the meeting of the heads of government on 23/24.

a decision will be made in June.

Macron announced that he would clarify the requirements in the next few weeks and organize everyone's approval.

"You have to know where you want to come out when you start a convention," he said.

And he added: "I hope that we will talk about this with the daring and necessary freedom from the European Council in June onwards." Of course, he left open whether a decision should then be made.