German-French working group of experts on EU institutional reforms

On the occasion of the Franco-German Council of Ministers and in view of the EU's enlargement plans, a group of experts was set up in January 2023 to make recommendations for institutional reforms of the EU. Following the Conference on the Future of Europe, the working group was initiated by the German Minister of State for Europe and Climate at the Federal Foreign Office, Anna Lührmann, and the French State Secretary for European Affairs, Laurence Boone. It is made up of twelve non-governmental experts from both countries. In order to incorporate a broader European perspective, the expert group also exchanged views with representatives from other member states and candidate countries.

It is obvious that the EU needs an institutional overhaul to maintain its capacity to act. This is especially important with the perspective of future enlargements. To identify potential ways for reforms, we bring together German and French experts at one table. We thereby gather valuable ideas on how to strengthen our common European project.
Anna Lührmann

The mission of the working group is to elaborate, within the next months, concrete recommendations on how to strengthen the EU’s capacity to act, to protect its fundamental values, to strengthen its resilience, especially in light of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, and bring it closer to European citizens.
Laurence Boone

How can the EU remain capable of acting even if it has over 30 members in the future? That is the big question that a group of French and German experts has been asking itself. The group’s report, “Sailing on High Seas – Reforming and Enlarging the EU for the 21st Century” suggests various EU reforms, including reforms of the instruments to safeguard the rule of law and of the EU enlargement process. The report provides major input for the current European debate on how the EU can be made fit for enlargement.

Sailing on High Seas: Reforming and Enlarging the EU for the 21st Century

The 12 members of the working group are as follows: Daniela Schwarzer (Bertelsmann Stiftung) and Olivier Costa (CNRS CEVIPOF) as rapporteurs and Pervenche Berès (Fondation Jean-Jaurès), Gilles Gressani (Group of Geopolitical Studies/GEG), Gaëlle Marti (Jean Moulin Lyon 3 University), Franz Mayer (Bielefeld University), Thu Nguyen (Jacques Delors Centre), Nicolai von Ondarza (Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik - German Institute for International and Security Affairs), Sophia Russack (Centre for European Policy Studies/CEPS), Funda Tekin (Institute for European Politics/IEP), Shahin Vallée (German Council on Foreign Relations), Christine Verger (Jacques Delors Institute).