Europe seen by Nobel Prize-winners

Foreign policy issues, the future of the Constitutional Treaty and a reflection on the future of Europe entrusted to thirteen Nobel prize-winners: the parliamentary session held in Brussels last week was held in an atmosphere of ferment: debates in the chamber alternated with celebrations for Europe Day (9 May, in memory of the Schuman Declaration of 1950 which gave the go-ahead to European integration) and an analysis of the continental political scene, marked by the exit of French President Jacques Chirac and British Premier Tony Blair, and the arrival of a new tenant of the Elysée, Nicholas Sarkozy. A “QUALITY” DEVELOPMENT. “Fifty years after its foundation, we are here to celebrate the extraordinary development of the Union, which has guaranteed peace and prosperity in Europe. It’s a development that must proceed not only from a quantitative but also from a qualitative point of view”. And the benefits must be “shared with the rest of the planet”, stressed the Italian RITA LEVI MONTALCINI , winner of the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1986, and “dean” of the prizewinners present in Brussels to inaugurate the debate on 9 May on the occasion of Europe Day. Her address was followed by those of a further twelve distinguished Nobel prizewinners, each offering his/her own vision of the Community. The guests were presented by the President of the EP HANS-GERT POETTERING , who declared: “You represent the conquests of Europe in various fields” of science and social and cultural life. “You have made an original and invaluable contribution to building a better and peaceful world”. The German politician then explained that “the EU is now in a phase that requires a common effort and creative ideas” to overcome the impasse in which it finds itself. He indicated three sectors in particular in which the future role of the Union is at stake: training and research; “the challenge posed by climate change and globalization”, which is “an opportunity, not a threat”; and the role that must be played by the 27 “in building peace and democracy in the world, while at the same time defending human rights and personal dignity” and “promoting toleration and dialogue between cultures and religions”. AN ECONOMIST WHO CHAMPIONS ESPERANTO. During the session the various guest speakers invited by Parliament ascended to the microphone. They included the German REINHARD SELTEN , Nobel prizewinner for economics in 1994, who explained “Europeans must learn to feel like Europeans”, especially thanks to greater economic integration and the concrete results that the Community must produce for the life of its citizens. An obstacle to this objective is represented, according to Selten, “by language barriers, which can be removed only by promoting the learning of a simple language like Esperanto”. For his part, the Italian CARLO RUBBIA , Nobel prizewinner for Physics in 1984, after underlining the importance of CERN (European Centre for Nuclear Research, based in Geneva, in which 22 EU member states participate, among others), called for the realization of “new structures at the world level to promote international cooperation” in the field of research “and the mobility of scientists”. “This – he said – would permit a growth in the contribution of knowledge for the development of the Union and of the other continents”. WALESA: A DECALOGUE OF VALUES. The Dutch MARTINUS VELTMAN , Nobel prizewinner for Physics in 1999, said that “scientific research is easier in the USA, thanks to the availability of funds and better organization”. The Irish MAIREAD CORRIGAN MAGUIRE , Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1976, explained that the example of her country shows that “military intervention and terrorism do not serve to solve conflicts of an ethnic nature”. She opposed the “bombs dropped on Iraq and Afghanistan” and protested about the construction of a “wall of apartheid” in the Holy Land. Others speakers included Nobel Peace Prize winner John Hume (UK, 1998), Nobel for Chemistry Paul Crutzen (Netherlands, 1995), for Medicine Tim Hunt (UK, 2001), and for Physics Jack Steinberger (Germany, 1988). The representative of Amnesty International (the organization awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977), DICK OOSTING , observed that “the EU, founded on shared values, has the strength to play an important role in peacemaking, as also in the field of the challenge of climate change”, even if it now shows the need for “reforms to permit it to act as a leader” in these fields on the international scene. Lastly, the Polish LECH WALESA (Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1983) urged the EU to draw up a “Decalogue of values” which would be faithful to its history and permit it to “tackle the new challenges it faces” in the economic and social spheres and in the field of human rights.