Europe – the Final Countdown or Resurrection Time? Reclaiming the European Project

The European Economic Union and its predecessor the European Coal and Steel Community were founded on the ruins of WWII with the explicit intention to prevent war in Europe. Slowly the European project transcended economic cooperation and turned into a political union unifying more and more countries in a common project. In 2004 this project reached a preliminary climax when most of the former communist countries of central Europe became members and almost all of Europe was unified, basically just leaving the Balkan countries, which still had to overcome their post-war trauma’s, to join at a later stage. But after a brief period of euphoria, in fact only a year later, things started to go wrong when the citizens of France and the Netherlands rejected the ambitious ‘European Constitution’ by referendum. From then onwards things got from bad to worse. The adoption of the Constitution’s watered-down follow-up, the Lisbon Treaty, after many problems and compromises could not hide that the European project was under pressure. The extended EU family of 25, later 27, started to squabble about the way its common future should look like. Citizens started losing interest in a ‘common future’: for new generations in western Europe, the threat of war no longer counted, certainly not after the fall of communism and the end of the Cold War, whereas the citizens of the former communist countries were still trying to develop their own (national) identities which had been suppressed for so long. Many citizens in many western European countries felt their own national identities under threat as well: by immigration from non-European countries on the one hand and by the seemingly undemocratic ‘European bureaucracy’ on the other hand. Where politicians of the established democratic parties failed to explain the importance of the European project to their citizens, populist leaders were keen to play on the feelings of political estrangement thereby securing themselves a central place in the political arena where they could no longer be neglected by the establishment. In some countries the political establishment was reduced to the level of background actors without a chance for a come back, leaving the political arena splintered and, apparently, forever changed.

This was the situation in Europe when the financial crisis knocked on its door for the first time at the end of 2008, followed by the outburst of the sovereign debt crisis in the eurozone in 2011. Since then the European Union has been staggering like a punch-drunk boxer just before the knock-out. Is the great European project down for the count? Does anybody care? Does anybody understand why they should care? Citizens (at least some of them) have turned into recalcitrant ‘indignados’. The ‘European democratic deficit’ has always been blamed for every unpopular measure taken. But, indeed, it cannot be ignored that it is a worrying development that as a result of the euro crisis, powerful structures like the so-called Frankfurt Group are operating without any democratic legitimisation and that in Greece and Italy democratically-chosen government leaders (how incompetent they may have been) have been replaced by technocrats. That a minister of an EU country can suggest that people of another EU country should postpone national elections planned and instead adopt a technocratic government that leaves out the country’s major political parties is –even against the background of the seriousness of the euro crisis– adding insult to injury. Citizens of small and/or poor Member States, instead of feeling a part of a sympathetic whole, feel ‚colonised’ by large Member States and citizens of wealthier Member States feel unfairly used to help finance the economies of the weaker Member States. Solidarity seems to be a lost concept. The PIGs feel manhandled by the ‚Bigs’, especially by the old and new bogeyman Germany.

When Polish finance Minister Jan Vincent-Rostowski said in an extraordinary speech before the European Parliament in September 2011:
”We must save Europe at all costs. The danger of a potential war in the next ten years [...] is a scenario we should contemplate. If the ‚eurozone’ were to disappear, if it were to explode, then there is the risk that the EU may not survive. If the EU can't withstand this shock, the whole European project will be in great danger, which will lead to a situation where, in a number of years' time, we will have to face another great danger,“ he was not trying to catastrophise, he expressed the fears and experiences of a post-war generation. Peace cannot be taken for granted neither can welfare. The European Union is not an end in itself: it is there for a purpose. If citizens feel that purpose got hijacked, it is about time to re-claim and re-think the European project instead of ignoring, ridiculing or even destroying what is left of it.

The dossier ‘Europe – the final countdown or resurrection time?’ will provide an insight into the feelings and ideas which are held towards Europe by elites and (other)
citizens in a wide selection of EU Member States. The European Union office of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung has asked politicians, journalists, writers and other intellectuals in more than a dozen countries to describe what they and the people in their countries feel and think about Europe, whether from their perspectives there is a chance to resurrect and reclaim the European project and what would be the main changes necessary to succeed. Between March and December 2012 we will publish contributions by (amnongst others) Nikos Chrysolaras, Dany Cohn-Bendit, Radka Denemarková, Paul Gillespie, Pierre Jonckheer, Hilde Keteleer, Claus Leggewie, Ignacio Molina, Marc-Olivier Padis, Mario Pianti, Sławomir Sierakowski and Veiko Spolitis. We wish you an enjoyable read and are looking forward to your comments.

Marianne Ebertowski, Brussels, March 2012

The views expressed in this dossier are those of the authors alone. They do not necessarily reflect the views of the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung.

• Contribution to Europe through the Eyes of Writers 
  BÖLL PANEL DISCUSSION 20 June 2012
  Europe: Dream of Power or Power of the Dream? By Kader Sevinç

• Contribution to Europe through the Eyes of Writers
  By Hilde Keteleer
• Contribution to Europe through the Eyes of Writers
  By Hans Christoph Buch
  
  

Alex Warleigh-Lack
The European Integration Project - As Seen in the United Kingdom
At the time of writing – late November 2012 – the UK stands on the precipice of withdrawal from the EU. The only referendum on the subject that has previously been held in the country – that on staying in the then-EEC, held in 1975 – reflects a long-dissipated coalition in UK society. At the present time it is difficult to see how, without radical intervention, a referendum on UK membership is not to be held, and, from the pro-EU perspective, lost. More...

Mario Pianta
Sliding to the Periphery –Italy, the Crisis and Europe
Weak state, strong society’ has long been a trademark of Italy; which meant low nationalist feelings and high sympathies for Europe. After all, the manifesto of European Federalism came in 1944 from the anti-fascists around Altiero Spinelli confined on the island of Ventotene, and Italy was a founding member of the European Economic Community in 1957. More...

Veiko Spolitis
Baltic Calculations or what Determines the Profoundness of the European Project in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania
The minor cultural, historical and geographical differences between the three Baltic states (3B) – Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania – do not explain the major differences in preparation for EU accession, the structure of their political and economic systems and, finally, public attitudes towards the European project. more...

Paul Gillespie
Ireland and the Big Game Changer
A game changer. That was how several Irish ministers described the agreement reached early on Friday 29th June to allow the European Stability Mechanism recapitalise eurozone banks directly, without adding to sovereign debt, once a single European bank supervisory system is put in place. Since some €64 billion has been added to Ireland’s sovereign debt exactly because such direct recapitalisation was not previously permitted their reaction was understandable. more...

Tanja Dückers
Europe in Crisis
Seven years ago I had a curious, depressing experience: as a reporter for Die ZEIT I attended World Youth Day in Cologne. Just a few weeks earlier Pope Benedict XVI had become leader of the Church; he travelled to Germany for the first time since his election for the occasion. Since I'd left the Catholic Church some years earlier, my point of view in Cologne was purely journalistic and sociological – I wouldn't be cheering for the Pope. more...

Lennart von Schwichow
The EU’s Existential Crisis
After months of political and media comment it is likely that everyone has now understood that the EU finds itself at an historical crossroads. The current, long standing system is groaning and creaking on all sides and increasingly complex financial instruments are being used to patch things up and prevent the whole structure from collapsing. more...

Nikos Chrysoloras
Greece’s Economic Despair Gives Rise to anti-European Sentiment
All economic and social indicators show that Greece is facing an imminent humanitarian crisis and the risk of relapsing from the developed into the developing world. Despite the ‘pro-European’ result of June 17th’s elections, an ever-increasing number of Greeks blames the EU for the country’s plight. This spread of anti-European sentiment, in addition to high poverty levels and the unprecedented rise of political extremism pose, is a threat to the very survival of democracy in Greece. Such catastrophe would destabilise the Balkan region and the eurozone, while it would deal a huge blow to the European unification project. Coordinated and urgent action is required in order to avert it. more...

Hilde Keteleer
Europe: a Monster with Ice-Cold Breath?
On Hope and Loathing in Belgium
Stefan Hertmans, one of the best-known Flemish authors, wrote at the close of the 20th century in Intercities, ‘Perhaps this is how it must be: in a small, banal hotel room, with the peeping and rustling of the gypsy-like music that comes over the Alps from Sarajevo to Salzburg, you realise what an incomprehensible and impossible thing Europe is. . . . to understand for an odd moment what cannot be understood. That you’re living in a history impossible to disentangle, and precisely because of that, you want to live, although life slides past faster than a dream.’ The book opens with a quote from Victor Klemperer, writing in the early 20th century: ‘The contemporary knows nothing.’ more...

Marc-Olivier Padis
The French Debate on Europe
Europe was a major theme of the presidential election campaign that monopolised public attention during the first months of this year. The outgoing president emphasised his efforts, since 2008, to encourage members of the euro zone to act and his rival made European growth a central part of his manifesto. Nevertheless, the question of Europe in the electoral debate in no way corresponded to a full picture of either candidate’s views on the topic. more...

Radka Denemarková
Europe is here, and it’s not Going Anywhere (a Mosaic)
I live in 2012. Writers should capture ‘timeless’ totalitarianism, too. Weary timelessness. They should tell scary fairy stories about eastern European countries enchanted by an evil wizard. The thing is, these ‘fairy stories’ really happened. And Good did not conquer. Because every Good is infected with Evil. Days, months, years, lives pass. more...

Daniel Cohn-Bendit
Address on the Occasion of the Award of an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Athens (Faculty of Law) 9 February 2012
This afternoon whilst strolling in the university gardens I had a most extraordinary, if not hallucinatory, encounter! Just imagine, I found myself face to face with one of your ancient forebears, whose international standing needs no explanation. This key figure in the evolution of European thought was none other than Socrates! When he saw me, he took my arm and engaged me in conversation as if we were two old friends. more...

Claus Leggewie
Europe’s Place in the World
The idea that one is European mostly first strikes people when they are in a far-flung corner of the world. From afar, carefully guarded regional and national differences become blurred and you realise how negative our European naval gazing is in the global context. The European Union is, at the most, only a medium-sized political player that by 2050 will decline demographically to a residual population. more...

Dossier

Spotlight on Poland

On 1 July 2011 Poland will take over the rotating presidency of the European Union. The Polish presidency comes well-prepared and with an ambitious agenda. The expectations are high as Poland is the last heavy-weight country before the “fate of the Union” is laid into the hands of moderately-sized Member States like Denmark, Cyprus and Lithuania with presidencies by crisis-ridden Ireland and Greece looming in the not so far future. It seems ironical that Europeans are looking at Poland for solutions: after all not so long ago Poland was considered the Union’s problem child. A large chunk of the Polish population remained sceptical towards the EU-membership and the Kaczyński twins came dangerously close to make the Lisbon Treaty sink like a stone. After the elections in October 2007 a sigh of relief was audible in Brussels (and very probably other European capitals). With the new government consisting of Donald Tusk’s Civic Platform and the Polish People’s Party Poland seemed to have finally whole-heartedly arrived in Europe. Four years later, Poland has established itself as a constructive player on the EU-stage and the Polish population is more pro-European Union than ever and than most of their fellow-Europeans. But with parliamentary elections coming up in October, in the middle of the EU presidency, the question is: will the Polish political landscape change again and, if so, what would that mean for Europe? What do other Europeans actually know about Poland, the biggest ex-communist country to join the EU in 2004, about its history, its problems, its achievements, its hopes and disappointments? Read further...

DOSSIER

Hungarian and Polish Presidencies of the EU 2011

After Slovenia, in 2008, and the Czech Republic in 2009, Hungary will be the third ex-communist country to take on the rotating presidency of the European Union, followed by Poland on 1 July. This will be the first time two member states with a communist past will succeed each other at the helm of the European Union. The Hungarian presidency couldn’t have happened at a worse moment: Viktor Orbán’s new restrictive law on media has been severely criticised by many EU member states, including Germany and the UK and the Hungarians can expect to be under close scrutiny of the European Parliament. The main challenge of the Hungarian presidency whose slogan is “A strong Europe“ will be to deal with the crisis in the Eurozone, for which it seems ill equipped as the country does not use the single currency. Other main tasks will be the launch of the complicated negotiations for the multi-annual budget EU (2014-2020), a solution to the problem of Roma integration, an area in which Hungary itself has not the best of reputations, as well as giving an impulse to the Eastern Partnership and Croatia’s EU accession process. Will Hungary be able to do justice to its role at the helm of the EU? What problems will be left for the Poles who will come well-prepared but are facing elections in the middle of their presidency term?

ARTICLE

Reflections on the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union: Climate and Energy

When the Polish government was preparing to preside over the Council of the EU, no one had suspected that this Presidency would come in such a difficult time for Europe. When Poland was trying to increase its partners' interest in issues of the Eastern Partnership, the revolution in North Africa started. When Poland wanted to sign an association agreement with Ukraine, its president Viktor Yanukovych began the trial against the former Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko, which put an end to Ukraine's closer relationship with the EU. When Poland was preparing for talks on increasing the cooperation in external energy security, the eurozone became endangered and it was necessary to take actions that would save it from collapsing.
 
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ARTICLE

Pole Position: The Polish Presidency of the EU Council

- The Polish Presidency of the EU Council started with  high expectations on the part of other Member States and EU officials. At the outset of its Presidency, Poland enjoyed a good reputation because of its economic performance during the crisis (in 2009 Poland was the only country in the EU to achieve economic growth) and also because of its very pro-European society (over 80% of the Poles support their country’s membership in the EU and two thirds believe that this membership is something good). The government in Warsaw was perceived as well prepared for the task of pushing the EU agenda forward. Jacek Kucharczyk and Agnieszka Łada»

ARTICLE

Polish Presidency without Equality

- The Polish government announced that the Polish Presidency of the EU was a success. Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s speech before the European Parliament where he summed up the six months of the Polish Presidency was well received and highly appreciated by the parliamentarians. The leader of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats in the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, claimed that: “the Polish Presidency has undoubtedly been one of the best in recent years”. But has it really? What actions were undertaken during the Polish leadership? And particularly, what happened to equality as a priority of the Polish presidency? Joanna Piotrowska»

Article

Equality and Non-Discrimination and the Priorities of the Polish EU Presidency

- The list of priorities of the Polish Presidency does not mention equal opportunities or the fight against discrimination apart from a general statement relating to the need of providing persecuted Christians with help. This does not mean, however, that by neglecting this issue the Polish government can just ignore the necessity to implement such an important EU policy during its presidency. more»

Article

The Hungarian Council Presidency: How Well Did it Do?

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After a long six months the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union ended in glory on the last day of June 2011. Croat accession negotiations to the EU have now officially closed; the next phase is the drafting of the accession treaty, followed by a referendum in Croatia and ratification in the EU’s 27 national parliaments. Then, hopefully on 1 January 2013, Croatia will become the EU’s 28th Member State. This is probably going to be by far the greatest legacy of the Hungarian Council presidency.

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ARTICLE

Poland: Walking the Tightrope of a Post-Lisbon Presidency

- Working out a compromise between the Presidency of the EU Council and the remaining Community institutions will certainly prove a challenge for Poland, which assumes EU Presidency as of 1 July 2011. Although the Presidency no longer formally represents the European Union in relations with third countries, it can still influence many of its internal and external policies, albeit on a lesser scale. As was aptly observed by Minister Mikołaj Dowgielewicz, the official in charge of the Polish Presidency, its role is not reduced to attending cocktail parties. Jacek Kucharczyk and Agnieszka Łada more»

Preview of the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union

- On January 1, 2011, Hungary, as the third member of the European Union, which joined the club in 2004, took over the presidency of the Council of the European Union. It is, however, the first presidency of a newer Member State under Lisbon treaty rules. After the new treaty entered into force December 1, 2009, all rotating presidencies are, in reality, first time presidencies. Their relative success now depends more on administrative ability than political leadership.  Piotr Maciej Kaczyński more»

ARTICLE

The Sovereign Debt Crisis or Sophie’s Choice: On European Tragedies, Guilt and Responsibility

The year 2011 will probably be known for its quick succession of Euro summits. They all had a similar, tragic outline. Every summit started with good intentions: this would be the summit bringing the solution for the crisis. As a result, expectations ran sky high and financial markets lifted. As the summit came closer, expectations were moderated, ballyhooing tempered, rumours about failures spread, and possible solutions were put into doubt. During – or just before – the summit, it became clear that although some solution was to be expected, it definitely would not be the solution. Liesbeth Noordegraaf-Eelens and Jos de Mul more»

ARTICLE

The Triumphal Failure of Greece: A Report from the Eurozone’s Ground Zero

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The Greek crisis is essentially a déjà vu of the subprime loans catastrophe, which hit the US in 2008, leaving the global economy in disarray. The obvious difference is that, in this case, the insolvent borrower is a state. Other than that, the similarities are striking: the sudden realisation that the Greek debt was ‘toxic’ initiated a crisis of trust in the financial system, due to the uncertainty over the exposure of major lending institutions to bad loans and raised doubts regarding the solvency of other developed states in the eurozone. The quality of sovereign bonds portfolios became ‘anyone’s guess’, or, to put it more precisely, anyone’s speculation. The immediate effect of this crisis of trust was the rise of interest rates in interbank and sovereign loans, resulting in a liquidity shortage and, perhaps, a double dip recession in 2012. 

Nikos Chrysoloras more»

ARTICLE

The Greek Crisis: a Tragedy in the Making

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Greece, as many other countries, has since 2009 faced the second phase of a global-scale capitalist crisis, the sovereign debts crisis. The banks, after being saved during the first phase of the financial crisis with government money, then turned against their saviours by reducing lending for the increasing sovereign debts, which ironically occurred for their sake. 

Michalis Tremopoulos more»

ARTICLE

Why the Green New Deal is a response to the European debt crisis

- The global economic crisis has not been overcome; its character has merely changed. For us parliamentarians, its most tangible characteristic is the smoldering debt crisis in some Euro countries. Similar to the crisis in the banking sector, the European government debt crisis is typical of a large-scale financial crisis, the "Second Great Depression," and managing it has to be addressed in this context. Dr. Gerhard Schick, MP more»

ARTICLE

EUROPE’S MISSED OPPORTUNITY – BIGGEST ECONOMIC REFORM SINCE THE SINGLE CURRENCY FAILS TO MATERIALISE

- Since the American sub-prime crisis swept through Europe, illuminating the unsustainable nature of economic models such as Ireland (the Celtic tiger) or Spain and making it impossible to disguise the damaged state of the Greek economy, the discussions on economic governance that dragged on during the negotiations of the Lisbon constitutional treaty have now resumed with a vengeance. Philippe Lamberts more»

ARTICLE

THE NEXT REFORM AGENDA FOR THE EUROZONE

- Since spring 2010, the European Union has progressed with reforms of its economic governance mechanisms at an impressive speed. A first major achievement was the establishment of new European Financial Supervisory structures. On 16 December 2010, the legislation establishing the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) came into force.  The ESRB is an independent EU body responsible for the macro-prudential oversight of the financial system within the EU. It contributes to the prevention or mitigation of systemic risks to financial stability in the EU and will also contribute to the smooth functioning of the internal market.  
Daniela Schwarzer more»

Article

Why the euro will not disappear in 2011

- In Estonia, cash machines started providing euros on the first of January this year but this event went unreported as it is now fashionable to predict the failure of the euro. It is an understatement to say that the euro area came under pressure last year. Yet, 2010 taught us, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, that euro countries are bound together to such an extent that problems in one country will inevitably affect all the others.  By Hendrik Vos and Ferdi De Ville more»

The Belgian Presidency of the European Union 2010: an outline

Given its traditions as a founder member of the European (Economic) Community and its long standing support of European integration, one can expect the Belgian presidency, in this difficult time of global economic crisis, to implement measures already agreed and develop new ideas for the EU. There are, however, three factors that increasingly limit the rotating presidency’s room for manoeuvre. Mario Telo more»

The Belgian Presidency of the European Union: a Preview

- During the second half of 2010 Belgium will hold the presidency of the European Union.  It will be the twelfth time it has held this role since the start of European integration in the fifties.  Despite the decreased importance of the rotating presidency and reassuring words that Belgian diplomats have a great deal of experience in European matters, it is not ideal to begin a presidency with ministers who have resigned.  This will be discussed along with some of the paradoxes in Belgium’s European policy. Hendrik Vos more»

The Economic Challenges Facing the Belgian EU Presidency

- The main challenges confronting the Belgian presidency of the European Union in the second half of 2010 concern the European Union’s economic agenda.  The banking crisis, which occurred late in 2008, caused an economic crisis that seriously affected all Member States.  It has become clear in recent months that some causes of the crisis should be dealt with at European level. Hendrik Vos more»

Human Rights Priorities of the Belgian Presidency 2010

- Belgium’s twelfth presidency is particularly important and differs from all its former presidencies: it is fully operating under the Lisbon treaty and, for the first time, the Belgians are part of a ‘triple presidency’. The triple presidency began with Spain’s six-month term and will be concluded by Hungary, which will take over from Belgium in January 2011. All this makes the Belgian presidency the first non-traditional rotating presidency or rather the first  ‘EU joint team’. Roberta Dirosa more»

The Belgian Presidency of the EU: Foreign Policy Priorities

- Belgium assumed the rotating presidency of the EU at a very difficult time of transition for Europe.  On the one hand, the international economic crisis which erupted in 2008 is far from over and is giving rise to global tendencies towards political instability; and on the other hand, the new mechanism of the Treaty of Lisbon reinforcing the role of the EU in the world has not been implemented entirely, resulting in a partial re-nationalisation of the foreign policies of member states.  These external and internal uncertainties require particular skill on the part of the rotating presidency in balancing innovation with continuity, new institutional structures with the inevitable inertia of the preceding institutional practices. By Mario Telo more»

The Belgian Presidency of the European Union: an Assessment

- Does Europe need good administrators or innovative political leadership?  It is too early to give a definitive evaluation of the Belgian presidency response to this issue.  It is a question of knowing just how far the presidency went beyond that of playing the honest broker and took on the role of providing the necessary driving force required by the EU with regard to internal and external developments. Mario Telo more»

The Belgian Presidency of the European Union in Retrospect

- In the past months, the resigning Belgian ministers led thirty-six formal council meetings and sixteen informal meetings.  In addition, Belgian diplomats, experts and officials chaired the working parties and committees that prepared all these meetings.  We are referring here to 1943 formal meetings of council working parties besides many more informal contacts.  Belgian ministers represented the council in the European Parliament, in the European Commission and at multilateral meetings on all kinds of issues, throughout the world. 
Most observers agree that the Belgian presidency was a success.  This is not self-evident.  Indeed, at the start of the presidency there were quite some uncertainties.  In July, Belgium had no full-fledged government.  Never before has the European presidency had to begin under a caretaker government.  Hendrik Vos more»

COMMENT

What's left of EU Economic Governance after the Merkel-Sarkozy putsch?

After months of proposals and negotiations behind closed doors the efforts of the European Commission to improve and make more effective existing rules regarding the debt and deficit levels in the Eurozone seem to have been thwarted by the Herman van Rompuy task force, i.e. Member States in disguise. The usually stringent German Chancellor Merkel has joined the French President Sarkozy in watering down the Commission’s proposals. At the European Council meeting the heads of governments have decided for a permanent crisis mechanism and have agreed to limited treaty change. How will this new mechanism work in practice and what are the concerns? Yazgülü Zeybek more»

EU Policy After the Irish No Vote

The EU needs to seriously address its democratic deficit and the disillusionment that many Europeans feel for the Union. Dealing with these issues will surely not be an easy task but it will, without a doubt, enrich European democracy and the very ideals that we stand for and wish to promote in the world. By Claude Weinber and Roderick Kefferpütz more»

Publication

Bosnia and Herzegovina and Controversies of the EU integration process

- Published by the Heinrich Böll Foundation Office in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2008
The publication is in English and Bosnian. See pdf (132 pages, 914 KB).

Study

The Future of the Constitutional Treaty

- Ways out of the dead end - How to get the European Constitutional Treaty back on track. By Michaele Schreyer more»