The reasons for sticking together” “

Divergent positions, governments against, European Parliament incapable of adopting a common resolution: such are the negative repercussions of the Iraqi crisis on Europe. The current imperative for the European Union is to rediscover the reasons for sticking together, to complete the political community, wholly absent in the process of integration, and at the same time to revive “the alliance” with the USA, as American Secretary of State Colin Powell hoped on meeting EU foreign ministers in Brussels on 3 April. To discuss these questions SirEurope met Spyros Pappas , former director of the European Institute for public administration in Maastricht and former director general for culture, education and information of the European Commission, member of the Greek Council of State and currently senior partner of the European group of advisers for public policies (EPPA). Is the current division of Europe really a surprise? “I wouldn’t speak of surprise, even though we may regret it. It’s not a surprise as far as ‘Greater Europe’, beyond the frontiers of the EU, is concerned. This is explained by the economic and political dependence of the countries of Eastern Europe on the USA. From most of the candidate countries one might have expected at least a political alignment with the initial position of the EU. But that didn’t happen: that says a lot about the future attitude of the new members. On the other hand, it is legitimate to speak of surprise, if one considers the division of Europe as a division of the European Union: in spite of all the negotiations and meetings at all levels, and in spite of the initial common position on the war in Iraq, some members did not hesitate – in an ‘anti-Community’ way – to act independently”. After the war is a single EU foreign policy that may help to restore relations with the USA desirable? “The ‘certain product’ of the crisis, irrespective of the official policy of the EU, is the awareness of a new world conscience of the society of citizens. Thanks to the new technologies and the positive dimension of globalization, the citizens of the world are re-acquiring the role they deserve in the creation of policies. The message is clear: the citizens of Europe long for a Europe with a single voice and a common defence policy. However difficult this goal may seem, we are in fact not very far from achieving it. A Europe united in foreign policy and common security will not be the antipodes of the USA. A united Europe will form both an ally of and a counterweight to an America which in the course of this crisis has illegitimately extended its own influence at the world level”. What’s the future of Europe after the war? “The role of the EU, after the war in Iraq, will be reinforced for various reasons. One of these is the need, on the international scene, for a power – the European Union – that may play a role of ‘regulator’ in relations between Christianity and Islamism. The main danger of this crisis is in fact the opposition between these two great religions. The USA has already characterized its intervention as ‘an obligation for Christianity’. On the Islamic side, by contrast, there has long been talk of a ‘holy war'”. Could not such a clash also take place in Europe? “In Europe the religious traditions are bearers of a message of solidarity, of cooperation, of the value of the person and respect for human rights. It would be a great pity if, in spite of the possibilities offered by the information society, instead of understanding our respective creeds, we were to reach the point of erecting walls between different cultures. As Isocrates said in 100 BC, ‘the Athenians were not those who had the same blood, who lived in the same city, who believed in the same God, but those who had the same education, the same way of thinking and the same approach to life’. To complete the metaphor, we must all be Athenians, beyond all our differences in religion and daily life”.