French President Emmanuel Macron has called for comprehensive reforms of the European Union to deepen integration, and for changes to EU treaties to achieve this.
Speaking at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Macron backed a proposal from the European Parliament to hold a convention to devise plans to streamline the EU decision-making process, through revising EU treaties if necessary.
It was necessary to "reform our texts, that is clear," Macron told the European Parliament in a speech to mark the end of a major year-long citizens' dialogue on the future of the EU, the so-called Conference on the Future of Europe.
Macron also called for a rethink on how the bloc structures EU membership and to widen opportunities for political and economic cooperation in energy or security to other European non-member nations like Ukraine, bringing them closer to the EU.
Macron's appeal was met with immediate criticism from other EU member states who termed his and other calls for changes to the EU treaties "unconsidered and premature" in a statement published on Twitter.
The 13 mainly eastern and northern member states said that recent crises have shown that the EU can deliver results based on its current treaties.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen weighed in on the debate about reforming the EU by proposing to involve citizens more in future policy projects, with panels formed from the public.
"I'm convinced that democracy does not end with elections, conferences or conventions. It needs to be worked on, nurtured and improved every day," she told the European Parliament.
The year-long citizens' dialogue on the bloc's future had brought forth different proposals, some of which would require changing the EU's legal foundation, including calls for abandoning the unanimity principle for many EU decisions, permitting the European Parliament to propose legislation, and moving more competencies from national governments to the EU.
To change EU treaties, the leaders of national governments must first decide to set up a convention tasked with working out the legal amendments.
All members of the convention - representatives of the national parliaments and governments, the European Parliament and the commission - must then agree to the amendments before the treaty changes can be ratified and enter into force.
Macron was representing France as holder of the rotating EU Presidency. He said he wants to discuss possible changes to the EU treaties at a summit of EU leaders in June.
