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The crisis spotlighted a major structural flaw in Europe’s architecture: in the long run a monetary union without an economic union, in other words, without closely coordinating economic, financial and fiscal policies simply won’t work. Intensive crisis diplomacy eventually produced a range of new instruments and agreements such as the European Stability Mechanism and the fiscal compact. Thanks to strenuous efforts of this kind we managed to prevent the euro area collapsing and the contagion spreading to EU countries that are not members of the monetary union.
We can’t allow such a crisis to happen again. That’s why the Franco-German tandem is so crucial. For it is only when Germany and France get our act together that Europe can make progress. There are increasing signs that we’ve now turned the corner and the three-pronged strategy of solidarity, consolidation and growth driven by competitiveness is beginning to work. But it’ll be a long haul yet before we’re out of the woods.
What’s needed to really improve the situation, are further efforts to generate sustainable growth and make the EU more competitive in global markets. The debt crisis has created a profound crisis of confidence. Many people no longer trust the EU and its institutions to find effective and viable ways to help economies in trouble. There’s a danger they may even lose sight of the value of European integration per se. The economic crisis could then become a profound political crisis. Here, too, Germany and France have a special responsibility to live up to. Together we must communicate the EU better, make it meaningful to people in our own countries and all across Europe. We must jointly push the European idea in the wider world, too.
And of course we mustn’t cede the field to the eurosceptics. What populists and nationalists of every stripe are pushing for all over Europe won’t solve the real problems. The pronouncements made by Marine Le Pen and Geert Wilders also make that very clear. While they recently agreed to collaborate on their anti-EU campaign, they don’t have any constructive proposals to offer on how France and the Netherlands could achieve greater prosperity without the EU. If the current crisis has taught us anything, it’s that less Europe is not the answer. What’s needed is for all 28 partners to stand together here. Only when we join forces do we have the means, the strategies and the institutions that will enable us to ride out a global economic crisis.
What’s absolutely crucial during the coming election campaign is to present a range of genuine policy options. People need to know there are different ways of tackling the challenges facing Europe. That means Europe’s political parties need to publicly debate the whys and wherefores of their policies.
Firstly, the crisis showed that the Treaty of Lisbon hasn’t corrected the basic structural flaw of a monetary union without an economic union. So the top priority must be to strengthen the economic and monetary union. Secondly, what we also need are improvements in the way the EU as a whole functions. If the EU is to have a greater say in the conduct of world affairs, it must act with firm purpose. We’re living in an era of unprecedented globalisation, in which technological innovations happen at breakneck speed. It’s in our supreme interest to ensure that globalisation evolves peacefully and in accordance with accepted ground rules. This is a herculean task beyond what any European country can achieve on its own. So we need a united Europe. That’s the only way to ensure our values and interests will count in tomorrow’s world. This means the EU must raise its international profile. We have to improveour decision making. We need a more effective European External Action Service with greater political clout.
By the end of what will certainly be a lengthy process the separation of powers in Europe should function through a slimmed-down and more workable system that provides more effective decision-making and enjoys full democratic legitimacy. In the medium term our goal should be a truly bicameral parliamentary system with a strong European executive.