Responding to Brexit: Creating a European Foundational Assembly

The author proposes a two-stage 'Foundational Assembly' to move beyond market-led integration and national interests. This process would involve local citizens' assemblies followed by a European Citizens' Assembly to define common values, governance, and Europe's global role, eventually leading to a simultaneous referendum across Member States.

• The author contends that the European unification process has failed because it was based almost exclusively on market integration and the free flow of goods, people, and capital, which has made Europe the "soft underbelly of globalization".
• The proposed 'Foundational Assembly' is distinguished from a 'Constituent Assembly' in that its goal is not to draft a new treaty, but to establish a community based on a common destiny and interdependence, particularly in the face of global challenges like climate change.
• The proposed implementation consists of a two-step deliberative process: first, local assemblies in volunteering cities and regions with randomly selected panels of 60 people working over a year; second, a European Citizens' Assembly featuring 1,000 delegates from those local assemblies meeting for ten to thirty days.
• The Foundational Assembly would address five core questions: the legacy of the past, the basis of a European identity and community of destiny, Europe's role in the world, the nature of EU governance, and the optimum economic model for Europe.
• The process requires the support of European leaders to provide resources and request regional involvement, culminating in a simultaneous referendum across all Member States once a consensus on a new project is reached.

APA

Calame, P. (2016). Responding to Brexit: Creating a European Foundational Assembly. Green European Journal. https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/responding-to-brexit-creating-a-european-foundational-assembly/

Chicago

Calame, Pierre. Responding to Brexit: Creating a European Foundational Assembly. Green European Journal, 2016. https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/responding-to-brexit-creating-a-european-foundational-assembly/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Calame |first1=Pierre |title=Responding to Brexit: Creating a European Foundational Assembly |publisher=Green European Journal |date=5 October 2016 |url=https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/responding-to-brexit-creating-a-european-foundational-assembly/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{calame2016responding, author = {Calame, Pierre}, title = {{Responding to Brexit: Creating a European Foundational Assembly}}, publisher = {Green European Journal}, year = {2016}, month = oct, url = {https://www.greeneuropeanjournal.eu/responding-to-brexit-creating-a-european-foundational-assembly/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }