Olivier VÉDRINE
The history
of the construction of the began over 60 years ago. We have succeeded in
constructing an economic union with a common currency but a political Europe
remains to be seen. The founding fathers had imagined a more rapid development,
but the real question remains: why this fearful and tepid approach to a
political union?
Traditionally
low voter turnout during European elections reflects more a lack of
politicization concerning the European debate than a real disinterest on the
part of the population, which has historically expressed a lot of interest in
its construction. Today, the European Union stands at a turning point in its
history and its future depends largely on the way it responds to the three
great challenges facing it at present. On the one hand the blockage of the
institutions caused by enlargement into Central and Eastern Europe and on the
other hand "blockage of the minds" demonstrated by the resounding
"No" from France and The Netherlands when asked to vote on the
Constitutional Treaty in 2005 and the difficulties to ratify the treaty of
Lisbon. Another challenge arises from differences (economic, political and
cultural) between the different societies that make up the, these are extremely
difficult to resolve as they are perpetuated by a vacuum of ideas and
discussions. Is it not this lack of debate that is the reason for our helpless
situation? And the last challenge is of course to face the world economic
crisis.
Conflict
and reconstruction in the Balkans has been an excellent test for Europe. The
Balkans is a European laboratory where many peoples, religions and cultures are
represented in an area of several thousand square kilometers. We have witnessed
the disastrous consequences of power hungry nationalists exploiting these
differences. It is time to accept our diversity and defend it by finding a
model which incorporates our shared values, a model flexible enough to
integrate national differences, but sufficiently pro-active to permit Europe to
move beyond the current deadlock.
"We,
the Peoples of Europe"
It must not
be forgotten and we need to remain convinced that our differences are the
source of the rich variety of inspirational thought in Europe. Also, the Balkan
experience shows us that it is essential to guard against attacks of this kind.
It is important to preserve our cultural diversity and to ensure that it is no
longer used by nationalists to gain power. This is why be should seek to
recognize and document this diversity and highlight it in a future European Constitution.
Numerous
official documents use the phrase, "We the people...." But in the
case of Europe we should not hesitate to state now: "We the peoples of
Europe..." This expression does not mean that Europe should abandon its
diversity but should build its unity around the wide diversity using a dynamic
thought process. Another
pitfall to avoid is a Europe punctually united, expressing solidarity during
crises but incapable of uniting in the long term. The only way now is to build
a political union! The history of our continent is littered with the debris of
short term alliances hastily created in times of peril. It is now time to pool
our strengths and rise above this feudal legacy that persists in the
subconscious of our member states. "We the peoples of Europe" are
united precisely to ensure the uniqueness and unity of the European Union based
on certain key principles that we will try to define now.
The Driving
Engines of a Powerful Europe: The four values
To be a
European citizen is to abide by the four values: Democracy, Dialogue, Human
rights and Solidarity, these are the driving engines of European power. To
become a European power, it is necessary to assert ourselves: militarily,
economically, technologically and culturally. American power is made up of both
Hard Power (most powerful military force in the world) and Soft Power (economic
and cultural, with the symbol of Hollywood acting as a true war machine) these
combine to make this country into a global power. Nowadays only three countries
have the instruments to stay or become a global power in the future: USA,
European Union and China.
This is why
the European Union should guard against the brain drain and put policies into
place protecting our grey matter! It is worrying to note that research is the
sick child of Europe. The cultural aspect is no less serious as it defines who
we are. We are not solely an economic entity. Our civilization has thousands
years of history. To become a global power, it is necessary to have an overall
leader and political unity.
Finally,
what also makes a great power is the Civilian Society itself: it is the desire
to adhere to a model. We have to build and support the development of a
European civilian society. One speaks of the American way of life: it is up to
us to promote the European way of life, by delving into our cultures, our
philosophers or into what defines us, to find the ideas to create a new social
model. Building a European dream is essential as we cannot create, as example,
a defense force if we do not have the desire from the beginning to live
together with the same objectives. This model needs to be constructed and I
think that there is still a lack of debate.
What
allowed the French Revolution to succeed? One huge united breath, the momentum
given to the world by the ideas of many: "Equality, and Fraternity".
Men whose status was that of subjects became citizens and masters of their
individual and collective destiny. The young Republic was saved by military
victories arising from its strong armies and also from the conviction that
every soldier was a sword.
A
Constitution is therefore needed as a first step in building a European dream
made up of our individualities. The renowned "European social model"
is a good example of what would be a credible alternative to other models of
societies proposed all around the world include to face and destroy the models
proposed by the nationalist parties.
The Brakes
on a Powerful
One of the
most important obstacles, because of the world economic crisis, is the return
of nationalism and regionalism: the Balkans has seen the loss of hundreds of
thousands of lives. Recently, Hungary, Rumania and Poland have seen a
resurgence of nationalist discourse. France is not an
exception with votes for Jean-Marie Le Pen in 2002 and a "no" vote
against the European constitution in 2005 and the votes for Marine Le Pen in
the French presidential elections of 2012. There exists a tangible fear
heightened by the lack of debate. This translates into regional and national
isolationism. Fear has won the first battle but it must not be allowed to win
the final one. The world economic crisis give to the nationalist extremist
parties a stock of stupid easy answers. Despite the obstacles to European
power, the fact remains that a number of projects have been successfully
deployed within Europe, notably the structural fund. Countries like Spain,
Portugal and Greece have seen massive improvements in social and economic
development because of these funds. We can make a positive assessment of these
European projects, especially that they prompted the new countries to want to
join the economic union. And all the elections in the states member of the
European Union underline that those states don't want to leave the European
Union or the Euro zona. The elections of Greece underline the fact that the
Greece citizens didn't want to leave the European Union and the Euro zona! A
certain number of "big jobs" still need to be done, in social and
political areas. Resources have been allocated to education and training
programs but much remains to be done.
The Need
for Political
The Union
confirmed at the Nice summit its willingness to enlarge from the year 2003,
admitting new members who met the conditions of accession. We are now 27!
However we must ask ourselves the question that has yet to be answered, what
will be the geographical boundaries of Europe? If we do not develop a
"hardcore" of members as the vanguard of the political union we will
lament the dilution of the Union as it enlarges.
The
pressure of enlargement should have made the EU take a qualitative leap by
strengthening the common policies, allowing new members to integrate into a
reformed institutional framework. Through a complete institutional shake up and
the creation of a hardcore of members we could bypass the blockages accumulated
since the signing of the Maastricht
treaty and stop condemning Europe to impotence. We could avoid a crisis
which reveals our weaknesses and may lead to setbacks or even a collapse of the
building which began in 1957.
Faced with
the strategic challenges of the 21st Century, the construction of a politically
unified Europe is necessary. The new challenges cannot be handled by individual
states neither by a system of intergovernmental cooperation. The latter showed
its limitations in the ex Yugoslavia. We really need to organize the building
of a political Europe in successive steps.
On centre
stage, would be a few states which have chosen to go further in the political
union, governed by a constitution. Members of this small group would be members
of the EU and share common policies involving internal security (Schengen) and
external security (defence). In addition they would jointly manage foreign
affairs and the economy. In the first outer circle of states would be those
interested only in free trade. However some states in this zone could choose to
participate in common policies, including security policies (CFSP) Finally,
there is the last group of candidate countries who meet the criteria of a
political Europe. The "hard core" would drive the whole Union. This
integration within geometric concentric circles would be a realistic way to
construct a political Europe. Each country would be able to prepare in its own
time for admission to the federation. There would be a shift from total
integration to continued sustained influence.
Europе must
propose a federated civilization and the creation of a new society. Its
constitution should be included in this approach if it wishes to be better
understood and accepted. Everywhere in the world, peoples are searching for
some alternative political models. This is an historic opportunity to be seized
by our continent.
There
should be several models of development and society in this world so that
everybody can find what suits them. We should propose a project which fights
precariousness, respects the environment and allows individual citizens to
flourish in the pursuit of happiness. We must accept that realistically, the
market economy is the only one that functions, but we can adapt it to suit any
economy so as to serve the population and not the other way around. Let us hope
that the destiny of the European Union will be different to that of the Greek
League of ancient times, which vanished with the disappearance of the threat
from Persia. We have all the means to become a geopolitical power. The future
will demand it if we are to face up to the challenges. We need to build a more
humanistic European society whose values give rise to a dynamic federation. A
constitution is an essential component to forming any sort of political.
If Europe
was the theatre for the century of enlightenment it was also the setting for
two world wars and some still partially unresolved dramas; these experiences
should feed our thoughts and help us to develop a new humanist conscience. As in
the drawing rooms of the 18th Century, we would like to debate together with
the purpose of envisaging tomorrows' world and take our destiny into our own
hands.
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