But, to do so, we will need to make EU institutions more efficient, with better regulation and a lower administrative burden. Common institutions are needed to ensure that all EU countries interests are protected, and to act as a bridge between eurozone and non eurozone member states.

Frankly, the functioning of the EU and its institutions during the crisis has been a part of the problem. For many people, EU decision making is opaque, inefficient, and removed from democratic control.

Behind the scenes accounting tricks were accompanied by behind the scenes political tricks. Citizens, unsurprisingly, complained about the declining legitimacy of EU institutions.

They can affect each other both positively and negatively. Good governance requires that both individual member states and EU institutions fulfill their responsibilities.

The reasons for this profound change are obvious the reunification and the historical resolution of the hitherto open German question the failure of the EU constitution and thus of the European vision the institutional weakness of an expanded 27 member EU and the increasing inefficiency and slowness of EU institutions.

Again, meetings, seminars, side events to official meetings, were as many occasions to lobby the International Financial Institutions, the EU, governments and official delegates.

The Lisbon Treaty also succeeds in tackling another major weakness of the EU its ineffectiveness. By means of extensive reforms to the structure, operation, and decision making processes of EU institutions, the treaty enhances their effectiveness and enables greater dynamism.

This is the crux of the Lisbon Treaty, which is designed to usher in new institutions and mechanisms aimed at creating more politically cohesive EU external policies. Transferring more areas of responsibility, such as foreign aid and development policies, to EU institutions helps the Union to adapt to new international realities by underpinning its growing importance as Europe s decision making center.

As the latest round of enlargement proves, the EU is very effective at molding the governance and behavior of would be members. Preparations for EU entry strongly motivated the eight former communist Central European states to entrench or restore democratic institutions and market economies.

In foreign and security policy, New Power, New Responsibility proposes strengthening the role of the EU High Representative and the role of the European Action Service. Current EU High Representative Catherine Ashton continues to prove the worth of EU foreign policy institutions by, for example, brokering a remarkable peace between Serbia and Kosovo and playing a key role in nuclear negotiations with Iran.

Voters in other states have more confidence in EU institutions, but their opinion of their own institutions is also low. In France, 57 trust the European Parliament, but only 29 trust the French parliament while the corresponding figures for Germany are 51 and 23 .

Under this Law, the institutions responsible for the implementation of sanctions are obliged to implement the requirements laid down in EU Regulations and Government resolutions of the Republic of Lithuania.

Indeed, attempts to address the problem by enlarging NATO or through an EU defense policy are counterproductive. We need more inclusive institutions and mechanisms that provide assurances and guarantees to all.

The EU would invite non EU states to do likewise

But, with that historic task now complete, European institutions need a new rationale. And with the EU, unlike other federations, lacking a common political destiny, that rationale must center on material benefits.

Solidarity cannot be achieved when our most important institutions are excluded. Indeed, some of the most dangerous decisions taken in both the EU and NATO are those that are not openly discussed beforehand.

That strategy is in line with steps we need to make on the path towards EU accession, and it is further supported by the programmes we have designed with the Bretton Woods institutions.

The EU recognized the importance of good governance, strengthened democratic institutions and action against corruption for sustainable development, and that each country had the primary responsibility for its own economic and social development.

The EU should commit to continue democratizing its institutions, as it did when it gave the democratically elected European Parliament a voice in the selection of the European Commission president. For their part, EU member countries should recognize that they, as sovereign actors, chose integration, because the benefits of pooling their sovereignty outweighed the costs.

Finally, Germany, Spain, Italy, and several northern European countries required, for domestic political reasons, a ritual humiliation of radical Greek politicians and voters who openly defied EU institutions and austerity demands. Having achieved this, EU leaders have no further reason to impose austerity on Greece or strictly enforce the terms of the latest bailout.

EU PROPOSAL

How can economic growth be revived and sustained throughout the EU? And how can Europe s institutions function with enhanced legitimacy to accommodate countries that share the euro and others that retain their national currencies?

EU action at global level will be carried out in close collaboration with inter parliamentarian groups, multilateral institutions (UNFPA and other UN agencies) and organizations, as well as NGOs and civil society at large

The EU urgently needs to democratize its procedures and reorganize its institutions to ensure that this year's enlargement does not lead to bureaucratic deadlock. The draft Constitution provides acceptable answers to many questions of governance.

Of course, competence and responsibility for arms export controls and licensing rests with member states, not EU institutions. Indeed, under the Wassenaar Arrangement, a decision on exports is the sole responsibility of each participating state.

But EU institutions have not been entirely inactive. The European Commission asked an eminent persons group, chaired by Erkki Liikanen, the head of the Finnish central bank, to examine this issue on a European scale.

Institutions, however, may be reformed if they no longer work, and this is exactly what the EU has been futilely trying to do for 20 years. After 1989, history has made EU enlargement indispensable, but, without institutional reform, a Europe of 27 member states will inevitably deliver ever worse and, to its citizens, increasingly disappointing results.

To be sure, in EU institutions public and ceremonial meetings, interpretation and translation must be equally available, at least in principle, from every language into every other. Each day, hundreds of interpreters literally pay lip service to this lofty precept, and millions of pages are translated annually so that citizens may consult EU law in their own language.

Blair s EU disaster

Post EU Depression

EU European Union

This will be a process in which the EU s 28 member states, rather than the European Commission, must be in command. Only by appealing to and involving the EU s national political institutions can EU reform succeed.

They want to see their institutions and values mirrored and replicated in their neighbors a dynamic that builds loyalty. As a result, the EU is constantly expanding, while the US likes to urge the world to democratize.

Britain s Last EU Straw?

A Better EU Budget

Politicizing EU Competition Policy

Righting the EU Constitution

The EU vs. Democracy

Statement of the EU

The crisis must also not become an excuse to create new institutional formats that jeopardize the delicate balance between the different EU institutions, a balance that through appropriate adjustments has been proven by the test of time. Of course, the crisis does highlight the need to strengthen the EU s institutions and instruments for common action and coordination.

The only institution that does have that power is the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg. But Germany s Constitutional Court can judge whether the actions of EU institutions are compatible with its constitution and the European Union treaties.

Today, more than ever, I believe the peace process could take a new turn if the EU officially recognized Palestine whose interim institutions it continues to support. The effectiveness of such concerted action was on welcome display in November.

It shows how much European institutions must still evolve to underpin a healthy single market. The choice that the EU faces is the same in other parts of the world either integrate politically, or ease up on economic unification.

A major task of the Fiscal Council will be to ensure that the consolidated budget of Bosnia and Herzegovina contains enough space to accommodate the funding needs of those institutions crucial to the country's security and its EU aspirations.

The Challenges Of EU Enlargement