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Madam President of the Republic,

Prime Minister,

Mr President of the Parliament,

President of the European Council,

Esteemed guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

I am delighted to be with you to celebrate this historic anniversary for Europe and for Greece.

Forty years ago, your country joined the European family, having lived through the tragedy of a military dictatorship, a difficult return to democracy and economic uncertainty.

On 1 January 1981, the European Communities ushered in a new era in the history of our continent by welcoming Greece, the cradle of democracy. As we know, this second enlargement changed the very nature of Europe.

At that time, there were no democracy clauses in the EC Treaty, no Copenhagen criteria to be met by applicant countries. It went without saying, of course, that only constitutional democracies could be accepted into the EEC. But Greece was the first young post-dictatorship democracy to become part of the European family, and its accession marked a turning point for the Union, putting the democratic dimension at the heart of the European project. Greece’s accession certainly cast the Union for the first time in a geopolitical role, as a force for democracy and stabilisation, which found its fullest expression in the 2004 and 2007 enlargements.

In addition, the European Parliament played a key role at the time as a close observer of Greece’s democratisation process and its accession, through a wide range of parliamentary activities.

We must never forget the vital contribution ancient Greece made to the advancement of civilisation; the transcendent concepts of democracy, freedom, truth and aesthetics have been passed down to us through the centuries and have shaped today’s Europe, our civilisation and our European consciousness.

This return to democracy and to the European family was the culmination of a difficult process and owed much to the determination and conviction of the President of the Republic, Konstantinos Karamanlis, who lived through a dictatorship and steered Greece’s transition to democracy and then its accession process. The resolve and tireless efforts of the Greek people were just as important.

Since its accession, Greece has also had a profound influence on the European project. In particular, Greece and President Karamanlis were strong advocates of the election of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage and of an expansion in its powers. As long ago as 1983, he had grasped the fact that unanimity in the Council was not a guarantee of effectiveness and was calling for qualified majority voting.

In looking back over the 40 years since Greece’s accession, we are in effect journeying back through time, through the history of the European project, and it is striking to be reminded of the way in which the European project, its identity, its purpose and its nature, has continually evolved. Each enlargement undoubtedly led the European Union to redefine itself, to reinvent itself and to think hard about itself.

The crises that have marked the last decade have offered a warning that our European Union needs to modernise, and that we need to adapt our resources and tools to meet the challenges of globalisation, to meet the financial, economic, social, environmental and migration challenges facing us. The latest crisis is the COVID-19 pandemic, the full force of which has been felt by the whole world and by every one of us, women, men, young people, the elderly, children, students and workers, for more than a year now. The pandemic has shaken the foundations of our societies and democracies and, while we can now see a way out, we are coming to understand the immense economic, social and societal challenges we face, challenges as great as the expectations our citizens have of Europe.

There can be no going back to the status quo ante, no return to the world as it was before. We need new models with a social and environmental dimension, a new approach which focuses on the dignity of the individual and on protecting the planet.

As we prepare to rebuild our economies and societies on new foundations, and in the light of the huge investments Europe plans to make in public policies, it is even more crucial and urgent to listen to our fellow citizens, to understand their needs, their expectations regarding care, work, dignity, security and prosperity, and their vision for our common European future. I believe that it is our duty to put citizens at the heart of their European project, and the further we move towards integration, towards solidarity between states, the more vital it will be that European citizens are and feel committed to this project. That commitment must be commensurate with the ambitions we have for Europe.

Our democracies have also been challenged around the world. Who can forget the events which took place on Capitol Hill in Washington, a wake-up call for democrats everywhere. Authoritarians, who would have us believe that our freedoms offer no protection against the challenges we face, also make a show of extolling our democratic values.

But if democracy is to function, it must be defended, strengthened and developed, to endow it with even greater legitimacy. How can this be done? By protecting the public interest, in other words by strengthening the role of parliaments as guarantors of the democratic will of peoples, but also by guaranteeing the participation and involvement of citizens in democratic life. I believe that there is an urgent need to renew our democratic/social pact by re-establishing the link with our citizens. This is why the European Parliament is taking this Conference on the Future of Europe very seriously, as is Greece, a strong supporter from the outset.

Once this crucial exercise has been completed, it will be for us to put forward practical proposals, based on citizens’ recommendations and plenary debates. Above all, it is vital that these words should be followed by actions and that all the institutions involved, at all levels, and also the Member States, should be committed to the resulting reforms. And this vision of our European project will be the compass guiding our work in the coming decade. By signing the Joint Declaration, our institutions and our states will be committing themselves to realising that vision.

I am personally convinced that this belief in our unity and common destiny is shared by a majority of citizens and decision-makers. We are putting our differences aside, we are working together, while respecting our differences, to lay the foundations for a new European social and democratic contract. We are creating a stronger, more resilient, more democratic and more united Europe.

I conclude by quoting words spoken by Konstantin Karamanlis during his speech to the European Parliament in 1983, words which have particular resonance today: ‘Through its union, Europe will safeguard European civilisation and thus lend it fresh impetus. The lack of ideals that characterise our time, the intellectual confusion, the search for material prosperity and sterile rationalism have undermined the cultural model underpinning our continent. Only Europe, the cradle of all ideas, is capable of renewing those ideas and tailoring them to a new purpose, ushering in the renaissance that the contemporary world needs so much.