EU*: The Citizens' Europe

The EU has time and again been accused of democratic deficit, excessive centralization and regulation and heavy bureaucracy, disconected from the citizens. Many critics and sceptics of the EU suggest the Union to be transformed into a more democratic Europe at variable geometry or at variable velocity. As various member countries have not adopted all EU treaties in the past, a Europe at variable geometry already exists in various important fields:

• European Economic Area (EEA): 31 countries; free trade zone with free movement of goods, services, persons and capital;
• Euro zone: 19 EU countries with the euro as common currency;
• Schengen area: 28 EU and non-EU countries with a largely free movement of people.

The new Europe shall be open to all European countries between Vladivostok and Reykjavik. All citizens are invited to determine our new Europe and to decide on its most important issues in order to create a new, democratic, subsidiary and flexible new Europe of the citizens, with and for us citizens. - We first will be asked, in a Europe-wide referendum, to determine our country’s place in our new Europe: 1. Integrated in its political core union; 2. Associated in its new common market; 3. As a part of its vast European free trade area:

Countries willing to continue Europe's centralisation have to yield substantial additional parts of their sovereignty to its politically integrated Core Union, starting with their economic and financial policies (European economic union, EEU, including a common budget and transfer payments from rich to poor countries, to stabilize the euro), but also significant parts of their refugee, foreign and defence as well as of their public health policies (Corona) . 

We, the citizens of participating countries, shall democratically define, with a new Constitution, the democratic principles, structures and the functioning of our new Europe, in particular: 

1. Rights and obligations of the citizens, incl. constitutional initiative and legislative referendum;
2. Election and duties of European institutions (Commission, Parliament, Courts); 
3. Rights and obligations of member countries and the Union;
4. Admission and withdrawal of member countries;
5. Transfer of competence from member countries to the Union;
6. Constitutional amendments.

The new core union will be substantially more centralized and substantially more democratic than the existing EU. 

Those European countries that do not want to belong to the core union can join the large free trade zone or the European common market /new economic area (EEA*), involving the free movement of goods, services and capital, but not of people, and without the Euro). 

All these countries benefit from participating at the largest free trade zone of the world, EEA* countries additionally from a strong European common market. In the Free Trade Association, participating countries retain their sovereignty, their political structures and authority, incl. their own currency, their refugee and public health policy, their constitution and national legislation -  this is also the case to a large extent in the EEA*.

The treaties on the new Common market/EEA* and on the Free Trade Association will define the mutual rights and duties as well as the admission and withdrawal of member countries (model EFTA). 

The new common market shall be more democratic, more subsidiary, less integrated and less beaurocratic than to-day's single market/economic area (EEA) of the EU.

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*) New EEA*/common market without the free movement of persons and without the Euro

We citizens across Europe play the central role in implementing the EU* scenario (online) :

• We citizens of all European countries determine in a first pan-european referendum how and whether at all our country shall participate in our new Europe; we then also have the last word in every step of its implementation and, last but not least, we are also responsible for our new Europe.
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• That is why all true Europeans - supporters, opponents and critics of the EU - are invited to support our democratic, diverse, prospering, strong and sustainable Europe, the Europe of the citizens, with and for us citizens, our peace project*, which shall shine all over the world for democracy, peace, freedom, justice, human rights and human dignity!

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*) More about the implementation of scenario EU * s. Peace project