The great intuition

Fifty years of integration, a mixture of concrete results and undeniable failures, have revolved round a “winning card”: the community method. “It was the great intuition of Jean Monnet; it was one of the strong points of the EEC, and may still be so for the EU today”, says the distinguished economist MARIO MONTI , who formed part of the Committee of experts set up by COMECE in view of the celebrations marking the half-century of the European Union. Monti was one of the main speakers at the congress in Rome on 23-25 March. President of the Bocconi University of Milan, he served two terms as European Commissioner, first with the portfolio of the single market (1995-99) and then with that of competition (1999-2004). He presides over two think tanks based in Brussels: the Bruegel, Brussels European and Global Economic Laboratory, and ECAS, European Citizen Action Service. We interviewed him. What in your view is the main factor of continuity in the history of the EU? “The results, multiple and tangible, are themselves a factor of continuity. But what people don’t reflect on enough is the community method which has presided over the creation, through small steps, first of the ECSC, then of the EEC and finally of the EU”. What precisely do you mean by that? “It’s a method developed in two directions. First, the markets were integrated, leading to the removal of the barriers that impeded the free circulation of people, goods, capital and services. In other words, areas of free movement were created. Second, some aspects of public policies were progressively coordinated: for instance, competition and antitrust. But I would also cite the principle of solidarity thanks to which the wide disparities between more developed regions and poorer regions have been reduced: this was true in the 6-member Europe; it is even more true now that the EU has expanded to 27 members”. It’s a twofold method that seems to have worked for Europe… “I would add that it remains valid for the EU, but could also prove a useful means of controlling globalization, combining greater freedom with the necessary corrective measures that need to be assigned to public policies. Current attacks on the globalization of processes, be they economic or demographic or of another kind, must induce us to adopt this method. The European ‘soft power’ could even interest the USA, which is having to come to terms with risks and problems connected with a unilateral policy”. You’ve told us what you think is the main legacy of 50 years of integration. What, on the other hand, would you like to jettison? “The way in which many heads of state and of government shift the blame onto the EU for things for which they themselves are responsible. Brussels is often the scapegoat for the failings of national political action. During my ten years in the Commission, I’ve seen too many political leaders who followed the opinion polls instead of indicating proper guidelines for government and change. The cynical game of shifting the blame is still with us today: we may think of how many countries, though they have adopted the euro, denigrate, or seek to evade, the discipline of state budgets or the control of inflation, essential prerequisites for the stability of the single currency itself. These attitudes undermine the trust of citizens in the Community institutions and alienate them from the EU”. Constitution yes, Constitution no: the EU is in an impasse on this front. What do you think? “I recur to what I said before. We have a need for a strong European Union able to act, and less subject to national self-interest. So we need reinforced Community institutions, especially Parliament and Commission. In this sense the thorny question of the revision of the articles of the Treaty of Nice that discipline the way the institutions work should be looked at again. We could then proceed, with lesser friction, to the ratification and entry into force of the Constitutional Treaty. The Constitution signed by all the heads of state and of government at the end of 2004 is a good compromise”. Peace was the first and most ambitious objective of the European Community. Is it still so? “It must be. Peace in the old continent is an immense gain, but it is one that must never be taken for granted. On the world scene, on the other hand, the EU can be a factor of peace, but it must invest more in the structures of defence (to give security to its citizens and combat terrorism). It is called to act in favour of cooperation in development and to speak with a single voice in external policy. Only thus will it have the authoritativeness to act as a peacemaker”. Professor Monti, does this Europe have a soul? “Indeed it does! In the founding Treaties we are now celebrating, declamatory terms were eschewed. But gradually an ethics of responsibility has emerged and has become a distinguishing feature of the EU. And in many Community actions values are pursued whose roots lie in Christianity, such as the centrality of the person, freedom, solidarity…. Solidarity between the generations seems to me one of the distinctive features of the European Union today”.