Are divisions the answer? ” “

Centralizing and decentralizing forces active in Europe are all motivated by understandable reasons and interests, but in the middle stands a Continent – and a European Union – that strives to find its path in the new global millennium. There ensues that torn between surging nationalisms and upcoming secessionist referendums, 2014 could be the turning point of a road whose direction is yet unknown.The recent case of Catalonia is paradigmatic. The president of the Spanish region Artus Mas wrote a letter to major European leaders, including Angela Merkel, François Hollande and José Manuel Barroso, inviting them to support the Catalan population’s right to self-determination, due to be decided with a referendum scheduled for next November 9. The government in Madrid has also rejected this idea. Premier Mariano Rajoy has good reasons to claim that the secession of a part of the country involves all Spanish citizens, thus all citizens should go to the polls, not only those in Catalonia.Moreover Mas, at the lead of a politically weak regional government, firmly upholds his line. To the heads of government and State he also wrote: “I confide in the fact of being able to count on you to promote the peaceful, democratic, transparent and European project in which the large majority of the Catalonian population, including myself, are fully committed”. Indeed, it is enough to take a walk along the roads of Barcelona and of other cities and villages of the region to see brandished Catalan flags, recalling the recent popular marches and human chain which over the past months reaffirmed the will to draw apart from Spain. There are a set of reasons for this situation, but a feeling prevails: Catalonia alone would be a – more or less – rich European State of average size, with over 7 million inhabitants, whose national debt and unemployment rates – although far from perfect – would be different from those of the rest of the Country.Nothing is heard from the other capitals. National divisions are scary and no national leader of a major European country has yet publically endorsed Mas’ request. The European Commission on January 8 reiterated its position: if a new State were created in Europe as a result of the secession of a Member country, the newborn State would be “outside” the EU. In concrete terms, Catalan citizens would thereby no longer enjoy community citizenship and related rights (such as the freedom of movement within EU borders); a competition would ensure to obtain funds from the European budget, which also Barcelona avails itself of. In this scenario the circulation of the euro currency would be under discussion in the Catalan economy. However, the “new Catalonia” could present a request of EU adhesion subject to unanimous approval at the European Council …where also Madrid’s government has a seat.The Catalan question prompts further reflections across Spanish borders. In fact, coming September a referendum in Scotland will decide whether the country is to separate from the rest of the United Kingdom. In that case, the popular vote was the result of an agreement between Edinburgh and London, and the tones of the dispute have always stayed low: nonetheless, the open wounds, ranging from nationalistic, regionalist and Europeanist trends, are evident. Nor can it be ignored that similar dynamics are present across the continent, which at times are dormant, while other times they are more explicit and violent. Let us consider what history teaches on Ireland or the Basque Countries, disseminated by decades-long conflicts and killings; or the claims of Corsica; the tug of war between Kosovo and Serbia, the division in the island of Cyprus. Upholders of territorial sovereignty and of the detachment from their homeland are to be found in Belgium (where Flemish and Walloons are on opposite fronts), in Wales, in rich German Bavaria, in Alto Adige and in Lumbardy, as relates to Italy. Not to mention the claims of the Russian-speaking population in Latvia, of Hungarians in Romania, of the reiterated distance of Greenland and the Far Oer islands from Denmark on which they depend, of the case of Transnistria vis a vis the Republic of Moldova… and these are only some of the numerous cases.Notwithstanding individual claims and related political processes under way, the problem encompasses a larger realm. The globalization of economic, demographic, cultural processes that increased over the past twenty years took everyone by surprise. To that was added a strong economic crisis, which assailed Europe and its citizens with unexpected violence, spreading a deep sense of social and material insecurity. Surging migration flows towards European shores and borders from instable and poor African, Middle-Eastern, East-European, Centre-Asian and South-American countries, which objectively weigh heavily on the same European societies and labour markets, carrying a plurality of languages, cultures and religions, deserve special attention. To this trend a large part of the European population would like to respond by erecting new walls, new borders, new particularisms. But identifying credible, effective, peaceful and long-lasting answers seems impossible. The old solutions don’t seem to pave the way to reassuring scenarios. The new paths are yet to be identified.