In These New Times

Association des amis de Frank Biancheri

September, 2017

Emmanuel Macron’s recent speech in Athens puts on the table the great political challenges facing the EU. Rebuilding citizens’ trust, democratising the EU, opening the European election to trans-European lists, politically refounding the Eurozone… These ideas are truly echoeing another speech, delivered 20 years ago, in Athens too, by Franck Biancheri, at the time when, together with his road-companions, he was launching the Project Europe2020 (which gave birth to think tank Europe 2020, followed by LEAP2020). Not only are the ideas the same, but the deadline set to transform the EU the time was perfectly estimated: 20 years. As Nathalie Loiseau, the new French Minister of European Affairs, wrote when Franck passed away : “Franck was a sower. His ideas have germinated and leave a deep print in each of us. If his passing away is a schock, let’s be attentive to carry on his work. Europe needs his intellectual heritage” (In Memoriam, 2012, #68). Today indeed, we, and many more heirs of his thought, now converging, are ready. With #CitizenRoute73, iCAN, the 1Head2Votes campaign,… to name a few, we are making sure that the citizens are up to the confidence Mr Macron is granting them, getting mobilised to grow the debate, ideas, figures, movements, lists, media… required for the next 2019 election to enter into History books as the first real trans-European election,… the kind of election we demanded in July 2017 in our Countering the British nationalist Coup d’Etats with a European democratic blow: Towards a first real trans-European election. Thank you Mr Macron! You can count on us!

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