Let’s not undervalue it” “

A step forward towards integration, but it’s still not enough to tackle the “internal” challenges generated by the enlargement to 25 members and the “external” challenges posed by globalization. The debate on the constitutional Treaty approved at the recent summit in Brussels continues, with a variety of emphases placed on the question of “citizenship”, on social issues, and on the need to foster the “soul” of Europe. “CITIZENS NEED TO GET TO KNOW THE TREATY”. According to HEINZ-HERMANN ELTING, a German with a long career in Community institutions behind him, now vice-president of the St. Benedict Institute (which is backing the cause of beatification of Robert Schuman, among the founders of the European Union), “this Treaty undoubtedly represents a positive signal for citizens, who can glimpse in it a more precise and transparent face of the Union. It’s a result we should not undervalue. On the other hand, there are various negative aspects, such as the permanence of the power of veto on matters of primary importance, such as foreign policy, justice, social emergencies and tax”. Elting adds that “the priority now is to familiarize citizens with the text of the Treaty, and make them understand more comprehensively the importance of the EU for our future”. The question of the lack of any citation of the Christian roots in the Constitution is more complex: “The chosen formulation is deliberately vague. The Christian heritage of our culture is passed over in silence; the objective secularism of the political institutions is confirmed. Having said that, a courageous witness to Christian values in the policy of member states and of the Union itself is more than ever needed: it is a field of real apostolate, path to holiness, that requires strong values, competence and coherence of life. In this sense Schuman remains an exemplary figure and one of extreme actuality”. “SOCIAL EUROPE” SLOWLY GROWING. “The negotiations that took place within the European Council show the limitations of the intergovernmental method, especially when compared with the open and transparent process of the Convention”: JOHN MONKS, English secretary general of the European Confederation of Trades Unions (Cec-Etuc), does not mince words. After “the failure of the summit in December and the low level of participation in the elections for the European Parliament, the heads of state and of government agreed on the lowest common denominator. In spite of that, the new Constitution represents an enormous step forward in relation to the Treaty of Nice”: the improvements, says Monks, can be seen “in the specific recognition of the social partners” of the Union, in the inclusion of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, and in the new opportunities for economic coordination, at least in the “euro zone”. In general, “we are faced by clear progress” for workers and trades unions. But this result “marks the point of departure of a long process”. The European trades unions “must act in such a way as to ensure that this first step be not the last and that the social Europe shall continue to progress in future”. THE LIMITS OF GOVERNMENTS, THE ROLE OF CIVIL SOCIETY. The juridical personality of the Union, legislative simplification, the legal value of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, the principle of participative democracy, the recognition of the role of religions and of the churches: these are the positive aspects of the Constitution according to LUCA JAHIER, vice-president of the International Federation of Acli (Christian Associations of Italian Workers) and adviser of the European Social and Economic Committee. “But just as the courage was lacking to recognize our own roots, as if we ought to be ashamed of them – adds Jahier -, what’s also lacking in this Treaty is a convincing impetus towards the future. Now it needs to be explained to the citizens of 25 countries, in nine of which a referendum will be held for its ratification and it won’t be easy to arouse enthusiasm for a text encompassing over 400 articles, or make citizens understand that too many powers of veto remain, that the voting mechanism is too complex, that the role of Parliament has not grown as it ought to have done and that that of the Commission has been reduced”. So the problem remains “of how to foster and express the soul of Europe, its profound identity, the significance of its values, its missionary force for the world, so that it may represent a convincing proposal of caring and inclusive government as an answer to globalization. The leader of the Christian workers’ movement, which has its headquarters in Brussels, concludes as follows: “Governments have confirmed all their limitations. The onus rests especially on the capacity for renewal of the parties at the European level, but also on the commitment of the social forces and of the Churches. It’s a cultural and formative, but also a spiritual challenge, to ensure that European policy may regain the courage to make the decisions that matter”.