Ethics of brotherhood” “

A Europe of hope and of brotherhood, able to recognize and turn to account its own Christian roots, while keeping its doors open to other continents: that is the Europe called for by Michel Camdessus , former director of the International Monetary Fund and current president of the Semaines Sociales de France . Camdessus appealed to the institutions of the Union, but more especially to the consciences of European citizens, to ” be sensitive to poverty and deprivation in the world”. The former banker was speaking about “The responsibility of Christians in the 25-member Europe” in a report given in Strasbourg at the invitation of Archbishop Joseph Doré. E Europe called to international “brotherhood”. The point of departure of Camdessus’ speech was the “vocation to brotherhood” that the old continent has towards the rest of the world, and in particular towards the emerging countries, with a special eye for Africa”.Camdessus was rather severe in his rebukes to France and to Europe as a whole, declaring that “we have common spiritual and religious roots, but are incapable of recognizing them and inserting them in our future European Constitution”. “Is this not perhaps a form of self-mutilation?” – asked Camdessus, according to whom the danger exists of European civilization remaining bound to its past and to nostalgic sentiments, instead of looking with confidence and eagerness to the future. The basic preoccupation that is registered in the EU seems to be that of maintaining at all costs the living standards achieved, “although grave inequalities still exist among us too” and “the pressure of human misery on our frontiers” is increasing. The world’s demographic trends are also a matter of concern to the president of the Semaines Sociales: “We don’t have the right to remain with our eyes blindfolded to this reality. In the next 25 years the earth will be populated by further billions of inhabitants and 90% of them will be born in the developing nations alone. Can we just sit back and await the writing on the wall?” “History doesn’t wait, globalization is advancing”. “We 450 million European citizens cannot remain barricaded behind the walls of our fortress and we don’t even have the luxury of a pause for reflection in order to take stock, seeing that history does not wait and globalization is on the march”. Camdessus then passed from a gloomy analysis of the situation to some proposals, taking his cue from a careful reading of John Paul II’s Apostolic Exhortation “Ecclesia in Europa”, which invites us to raise our eyes beyond the frontiers and overcome the barriers that divide humanity: “If we truly wish to be Europeans we must champion a human form of globalization, by establishing rules: here lies the challenge posed to us by the miseries of the world”. Referring to a definition of the Union coined by the Convention during the work of drafting the EU constitutional Treaty (“A privileged space of human hope”), Michel Camdessus declared: “If it wants to be truly itself, Europe must embrace an ethics of brotherhood, in other words the same principle that is enshrined in the first article of the Declaration of human rights. A new global “Marshall Plan”. In practical terms – and tackling the sector in which he was a leading protagonist for several years as head of the IMF – Camdessus called for greater international cooperation and support for the areas of the planet in economic and social difficulties. He underlined the urgent need to fulfil the pledge made by the rich countries to reduce the debts of the poor nations. Nor did the new problems posed by globalization escape the analysis of Camdessus, who argued the need for a rediscovery of the “gift” of disinteredness, of giving without any thought of a return, in the field of international relations. He even prospected the need for a new “Marshall Plan” at the global level. To this end he indicated “the way of the definition of international rules to ensure that the emerging peoples become an integral and active part of the decisions taken”. He also urged the achievement of a kind of supreme coordination of international jurisdiction: a governance without frontiers that will need the authority of credible supranational institutions and a citizenship capable of overcoming narrow national confines.