The face turned to the world

The history of Portugal is “a European history” that deserves to be better known, also for the perspectives it offers. It is well known that as a result of the authoritarian regime to which the country was subjected till 1974, Portugal was sidelined from the construction of the European Community. Once the regime had fallen, the country “entered” Europe, fully embracing the cultural and legal heritage of political democracy that had been the basis of the process of unification. Membership permitted Portugal not only to consolidate democracy in contrast to the preceding authoritarian regime, but also to reject the Communist temptation that characterised a period of Portuguese political history after the revolution in 1974. The image of the European Community at the time of Portuguese entry was however that of a “rich man’s club”, of which Portugal was a poor member. An uphill struggle awaited her. This experience only underlines the truth that the consciousness of belonging to a community is not compatible with the great social and economic disparities that distinguish it. For this reason, if the European Union wishes to become a real community and to obtain from Europeans a “love” that does not substitute love for the Nation but enhances it, it cannot be reduced to a mere free-trade zone. Social cohesion and cohesion between the various Regions of Europe are to be considered a great and indispensable value transmitted to us by the Treaty of Rome whose 50th anniversary we will celebrate in March 2007. There is another aspect that needs to be underlined: the opening up of the Old Continent to the external world. The European Union was not conceived by its founding fathers as a fortress, an oasis of peace in a tormented world. Unity, peace and prosperity in Europe cannot be constructed without unity, peace and prosperity in the world as a whole. The Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa, in his poem “Mensagem” (Message), imagines Europe as the body of a person whose face looking outwards is Portugal (“O rosto com que fita é Portugal”). The history of this country is, at the same time, the history of its relations with Europe and the history of its relations – or, through its mediation, the history of Europe’s relations – with the other regions of the world. In the Schuman declaration there is an allusion to the historic responsibility of Europe for the development of the African continent. This responsibility is, in a particular way, a Portuguese responsibility. It cannot be forgotten when Africa is still being sidelined from global development.