22 April 2013

President Barroso reiterates the need to move towards a federation of nation states

Speech at the Brussels Think Thank Dialogue: "The State of the EU in 2013: Heading towards Federalism or Fragmentation?"

The case for more European unity is clear:

More European integration is simply indispensable for our economy, to shield us from international rough weather, to face strong competition and to maintain the trust of markets and investors. Politicians who still doubt the arguments supporting the push for more European unity, towards a deep and genuine Economic and Monetary Union, should ask financial markets, should ask international institutions, should ask our major economic partners what they think of it.

Globalisation itself is a key driver for European unification. As the programme of this conference underlines, issues like energy supply and climate action, our global role in a changing world and our trade interests in a global economy... these issues demand a more coherent approach and a stronger voice than any Member State alone can offer. They demand a strong European Union.

Our citizens also realise that many of the problems, the risks and the threats to their welfare and well-being go beyond the level of the nation state, and so the solutions must do so as well. European integration can support national policies and strengthen European citizens’ freedoms. Only Europe can provide a guarantee that the mistakes of the past will not happen again and the challenges of the future will be better dealt with.

The real risk of fragmentation comes from not hearing citizens’ concerns. The real stress test today is the polarisation that is threatening to be the end result of the crisis. So there is a real risk of polarisation in Europe. I am deeply concerned about the divisions that we see emerging: political extremes and populism tearing apart the political support and the social fabric that we need to deal with the crisis; disunion emerging between the centre and the periphery of Europe; a renewed demarcation line being drawn between the North and the South of Europe; prejudices re-emerging and again dividing our citizens, sometimes national prejudices that are simply unacceptable also from an ethical point of view.

One of the effects of the crisis and the shock waves it has sent from one Member State to another, is that the finer points of the jurisprudence of the Bundesverfassungsgericht are now discussed in Greek coffee houses, while popular German TV shows debate the state of the Cypriot banks' balance sheets. This debate can be divisive, but it can also be instructive. It can be a step towards a European public sphere. And it can certainly not be ignored. The worst thing for the EU is the political indifference of moderate forces that leaves the initiative to all kinds of populism and narrow nationalism.

And here comes the role of democratic debate and political vision. It will take leadership to counter these troubling trends. It will take a broad and open discussion on what Europe really means, on where its potential and its pitfalls lie. A debate beyond swear words and taboos, in which the general European interest is defended and mobilised as clearly and forcefully as possible, where a positive and forward-looking vision is voiced as strongly and enthusiastically as ever before.

We need a reflection, indeed, on the real state of the European Union today – in the beginning of a century that promises to be as transformative for Europe as the last one was.

Let me conclude by saying that, knowing all the difficulties and challenges, I am confident that the European Union will once again rise to the occasion. But that will not happen automatically, just because of some “spill-over” effects or historic fatalism. As Denis de Rougemont said speaking about Europe “L’avenir c’est notre affaire,” and yes, the Europe of tomorrow, depends on the choices we will be able to make today.

Full speech

Austerity has 'reached its limits'

"While this policy is fundamentally right, I think it has reached its limits in many aspects, because a policy to be successful not only has to be properly designed. It has to have the minimum of political and social support. I know that there are some technocratic advisors who tell us what is the perfect model to respond to a situation, but when we ask how we implement it, they say that is not my business. This cannot happen at European level. We need to have a policy that is right. At the same time we need to have the ways, the means of its implementation and its acceptance, the acceptability, political and social."

Austerity and growth debate: What President Barroso actually said at the Brussels Think Tank Dialogue

© European Commission