The G7 might have no more European members in it by 2050. But the European Union could certainly be a member if it so wished.

This manifesto signed by Jacques Delors, Antonio Vitorino, Pascal Lamy, Eneko Landaburu, Etienne Davignon, Elisabeth Guigou, Nicole Gnesotto, Philippe de Schoutheete, Elvire Fabry et Sami Andoura, calls on the European political authorities who are set to take office at the end of the summer, to commit to this strategic comeback from the very beginning of the legislative term from 2014 to 2019.

We will be able to contribute to strengthening our place and our role on the international stage only by embracing concrete targets in the short and medium term in five priority projects:

1. We must speed up the adoption of mechanisms for the collective management of crises, and check the decline in our military capabilities.

2. Our interests in the energy sphere must be coordinated in order to ensure security of supply, which can be enabled by a European energy community.

3. We must evince greater solidarity in the struggle against illegal immigration by simultaneously developing a common policy for legal immigration that will allow us to address the challenge of our demographic decline.

4. We must also help our businesses to benefit from the growth of the emerging markets and promote our standards in the context of our common trade policy.

5. And lastly, we need to adopt a more pro-active stance with our neighbours.