Enterprise Europe

It would be vain to deny the evidence. Europe and its institutions are remote. And when something is remote, one doesn’t see it clearly (which is normal) and often little or nothing is done to see it better (which is wrong). The perception of the European Union is thus negative. The results of the various referendums are a demonstration of that: rejection of the draft EU Constitution in France and Holland, rejection of the less ambitious Treaty of Lisbon in Ireland. In all probability other countries too would follow the Irish example irrespective of the pro-European or euro-sceptic position of their respective national governments. Of course, it would be worthwhile to ask oneself whether it is appropriate, or perhaps even constitutionally sound, to submit to a popular referendum a necessarily technical Treaty that regards the functioning of the EU institutions, when in actual fact the issue is the responsibility of the governments and parliaments that have been mandated to represent the general interest for the good governance, in this case, of the European res publica. But that is another matter.It is fair to say, however, that the remoteness of the European Union, its institutions and its representatives, is two-sided.On the one hand, there is the still unresolved question of the low quality of the information coming out of Brussels, unfortunately corroborated by the culpable absence of the more important media that prefer to dedicate transmissions and whole pages to crime stories and show-business gossip rather than to an analysis of European issues, and that only remember Europe at the time of elections or when the press rooms of European Council, Commission and Parliament are used – in a bipartisan manner – as a podium for diatribes of internal politics. Jacques Delors remarked on this ten years ago – and his words are as relevant as ever today – when he said that it is easier for a citizen to find reliable information on a hotel than on the affairs of the European Union. This is all the more lamentable when one thinks that by now three-quarters of the legislative output of each national Parliament is nothing but the transposition into domestic law of regulations adopted in Brussels and Strasbourg!On the other hand, if people are ignorant about Europe, the fault is not only that of Eurocrats and European politicians: the majority of citizens make almost no effort to be better informed on issues that impact directly on the quality of their life and that of their children. The same goes, we repeat, for the commitment made by the media to provide us with competent and useful information about the affairs of the EU.It’s true that a politics worthy of that name is called to make informed and judicious decisions for the common good: that is so-called governance, the “art of governing”, which if it is to be successful must never demagogically or lazily second the humours and sentiments of public opinion if these are not substantiated by decisive arguments. But it’s also true that we could and should finally speak of participative governance, i.e. the “art of being governed”. For without a minimum of criticism and especially of stimulus on the part of public opinion it is very difficult for things to change (for the better). Anyone who wants to understand and appreciate the European Union has the right and the duty to be placed in a condition of being able to do so. This is the sole remedy against the prejudiced euro-scepticism that is spreading precisely because a conscious pro-European stance is being undermined at its base by information and attitudes that diminish rather than augment: both qualitatively and quantitatively. What better time than the present to embark on the path of analysing and understanding the European Union? The Irish referendum has placed in doubt the application of a Treaty that simplifies and improves the way that the EU institutions work. Rising prices are bringing to its knees one European family out of three. The role of the Union in the world is still awaiting definition. The six months’ French Presidency that is about to begin in a few days time has added to its four declared priorities – Euro-Mediterranean Union, climate, energy and defence – a commitment to overcome yet another institutional crisis and prevent a deadlock. There remains, besides, the promise of a social Europe that has never been kept, sacrificed as it has been on the altar of competitiveness.The European elections of 2009 represent the ideal test-bed to revive a debate on a Europe based on the participation and contribution of citizens “of good will”; to speak of European policy, and not of national policies in Europe; to create European political parties and programmes, and not to witness another five years of the transmigration of national parties and programmes in Europe.It’s a responsibility of everyone: politicians, media, and citizens alike. For it would be culpable to forget – as John Paul II remarked – that the Union of European peoples represents perhaps the most meritorious enterprise conducted by man since the end of the second world war. It must remain so.