These words were pronounced by Lech Walesa, Nobel Peace Prize, at the excellent «European Forum for New Ideas» held in Sopot, Poland on the 25 and 26 of September. And they sounded like a call to awake our consciences.
A few days later, they were echoed in my exchange with my friend Jean Lasalle. The «MP who walks» was already at over 4000 km on foot through the countryside, towns and cities in France. And what he told me really upset me. A moderate, man of heart and of conviction, far from possibly being accused of «anti-Europeanism», he told me he heard, wherever he went, a long complaint against these «gentlemen of Brussels» accused of all problems. But the worst is the expression of the feeling of having been deceived, shared by all that is the diversity of our society, wealthy peasants or ruined, local elected officials, laid-off workers, business leaders, executives and teachers, young and old … They were hoping for a Europe that reassures and gives confidence; they feel they have a European Union that weakens and worries them!
How did we arrive to this point?
The foundational project of Jean Monnet and Robert Schuman aimed at establishing active solidarity: put together our resources, capabilities and creative work to better serve the people and be stronger together facing the rest of the world. See how the «old» from the ECSC (European Coal and Steel Community) spoke with respect of what Europe had brought them, in particular from a social point of view!
Where’s solidarity today?
Slowly, insidiously, facing the reality of the functioning of the UE, this solidarity has been replaced by a competition between our social and fiscal systems, leading towards division rather than cooperation. People from the agricultural as well as the construction sector, illustrate this situation explaining me the effects the directive on the free movement of services had on their sector. Based on a fair idea, this directive simply legalized social dumping, despite guardrails that proved impossible to be respected in reality.
Building Europe around the Single Market is an historical contradiction because today’s markets are globalized. On the contrary, we must turn and mobilize toward a Europe that invests, creates value and wealth.
Cohesion policy is another one of those missed opportunities. Established to ensure solidarity between countries / regions and despite its undoubted positive result in the country called «of cohesion», its effects were not up to the political expectations that it had created: lack of transparency, dusting aids, lack of visibility for citizens, extreme slowness and complexity …
In 2008, by choosing only the austerity path, Europe still stumbles and misses the opportunity to express its solidarity towards the Member States most affected by the crisis. Cypriot, Greeks as well as Spanish people felt humiliated while others are being asked to believe they would have to pay for some spendthrifts and lazy Europeans!
Solidarity can only be created and not simply proclaimed.
Europe today has no other choice than recreate positive solidarity between Europeans if it wants to regain the trust of citizens. There is a miraculous receipt for that, the only one that has been proven in the past: the Community method.
Let’s identify the areas where we have common interests: research, innovation, re-industrialization, employment, education, defence, protection of citizens, foreign policy … Let’s establish a method and a timetable for gathering resources in these areas. Let’s prepare common projects. Let’s establish a true mobility of men and ideas in the European Union, without fiscal or social dumping! Rather than cower ourselves at the regional or national level, we should imagine European «clusters» and we should mobilize ourselves around major projects. We should ensure the necessary transfer of skills and budgets. Let’s act to demonstrate to citizens that we can do better at the European level with fewer resources thanks to the economies of scale!
We must refuse the choice offered to us today between a dislocating Union, a rush forward towards a federal Europe which concentrates all powers that worries citizens and – worst – stagnation and resignation that would lead to the outright failure of the European project.
The Committee must lead and clear the way for a fourth path which is neither declining, nor stagnating, nor a rush forward.
By the Community method of active solidarity, it is possible to build a real economic and monetary union, step by step, respectful of national identities and of the interests of the various components of European civil society.
This is how I imagine a strong and solidary Europe…
