08 November 2013

President Barroso: From 1946 till today – a European success story. Why leadership matters

On 19 September 1946, Churchill put forward his – as he put it - "astonishing" proposal calling for the re-creation of Europe in a regional structure, "a kind of United States of Europe" based on a partnership between France and Germany.

[Churchill] was a man of foresight with an acute sense of history, often ahead of prevailing opinion, never shying away from saying what some might choose to ignore... In today's fast-changing world, we certainly need the same geopolitical intelligence and strategic vision. We need the same courage to think beyond the immediacy of the next news cycle. Because what is at stake is nothing but the future course of Europe! And this course is fundamentally about our political choices, about leadership.

Leadership matters! I want to stress this because it seems to be conventional wisdom in some circles today that politics don't matter anymore, that economic and technological changes and the rise of markets, media and non-state actors would somehow undermine the relevance of politics. I disagree: clear political choices still matter. Just think about the course of economic reforms, or conversely the failure to properly frame markets in the past that led to the financial crisis, or about decisions leading to war and conflict in our Southern Neighbourhood.

So it's not that the need for political leadership as such is disappearing, it's rather its form that is changing in this transformational age of globalisation. At national, European, or global level, foresight, political will and the power of persuasion still make the difference between shaping our future and letting it be shaped by others, between using new opportunities and having to pay the price of inaction."

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Churchill rightly said in 1948, at the Hague conference, and that is a second key point of inspiration I would like to draw from him: "We must aim at nothing less than the Union of Europe as a whole, and we look forward with confidence to the day when the Union will be achieved". The fact is that one of the EU’s main successes has been its gradual enlargement, its willingness to project and root democracy, security and shared prosperity across most of the continent, across "Europe as a whole", as Churchill said. That is why today, we continue to stick to our commitment given to the candidate countries for enlargement. Our Union remains open – of course strictly provided that our partners play their part, too, and shoulder their responsibilities...

European integration requires constant tending, like the tending of a garden - sowing, watering, weeding, pruning. That tending is mandatory, least the garden gives way to an unwieldy jungle. This means that pro-European forces need to take the lead, and not leave the initiative in the hands of the doomsayers and false prophets on all sides of the political spectrum. We have to engage even more directly with concerns and emotions and make the best of our values win against the simplest of prejudices. We need to resist vested interests and short-termism. We need to have the courage to think ahead and be able to project and shape change – that's what leadership is about. And we have to explain in an active, rational and reasonable way what our Union delivers, but also what it shouldn't do because others can do it more efficiently...

We are at a turning-point for the European Union's success story: the political decisions we make today will determine for many years whether Europe remains an area of stability, shared prosperity and freedom. I am convinced that our Union has what it takes to succeed. And that we succeed is important not only for Europe but for the rest of the world.

Full speech

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