EDITORIAL
Cohabitation with solidarity is the principle of community integration. But economic and monetary union is needed, accompanied by authentic political union
The moment has arrived. The heads of government and State must remember that European Union cohesion based on solidarity is their joint interest, but it is also the interest of nation-states, which are expected do their utmost to renew it and make solidarity irreversible through stronger political integration. A glance to what is happening in Greece should predictably highlight this tragic moment. In the meantime the presidents of European institutions – Parliament, Council, Commission, Central Bank – and the Eurogroup presented to the heads of government and State at the European Council of June 25 shared proposals for the enlargement and completion of the Economic and Monetary Union. It’s a plan with various stages to be implemented in the next ten years, thereby creating the conditions for a federal and democratic political union. It’s a good initiative, in contrast with the prevailing tendency of the past ten years whereby community discipline was given less value than national interests, in the name of egoism and to the detriment of solidarity. This tendency is evidenced, among other things, in a loss of meaning of democratic and community decision-making processes in the framework of European institutions as it gives precedence to diplomatic and intergovernmental cooperation and intergovernmental agreements. This deeply contradicts the spirit that characterised the foundation of the European Community. The result is the denial of solidarity, which in the past days – regarding the flow of refugees from Africa and the Middle East – is expressed especially in the incapacity of reaching an agreement on a truthful European migration and asylum policy and the ensuing division of duties and responsibilities. The refusal of solidarity evident also when the single member countries of European monetary union infringe on their own decision inalienable rules for the correct performance of the single currency jointly agreed upon. Moreover, in the history of integration the government of a member Country had never made such a strong attack against solidarity and against all general regulations and political unification principles, as is the case of the behaviour of the Greek executive in office since January. In the past five months, the government never missed an occasion, with a mixture of ideological blindness and nationalistic arrogance, to violate the commandments of honesty and reliability of its partners. Naturally, there are various reasons for the negative developments that fuel the current crisis. For example, before the major geographic enlargements of the Union in the years 1990 and 2000 political cohesion that should have been consolidated through the strengthening of its institutional system, and this did not occur. To this should be added the fact that these enlargements that regarded Austria, Sweden, Finland, and then Malta, Cyprus, and a large number of States of centre-Eastern Europe, were carried out too quickly. Not all candidates had the necessary requisites for active, responsible EU membership. Worse still, some member Countries that would thus have been bound to the Communitarian ideal, opposed the adoption of the single currency, which caused a divide inside the EU that grew worse in time. Also other special dispositions granted to Great Britain in particular acted against the cohesion of the Community. A further cause of tensions were the planning mistakes of the monetary union, launched without being integrated within an economic union and without the framework of a political union that would have made possible the harmonious development of the euro zone. That’s why the above-mentioned initiative of the presidents for the development of economic and monetary Union is so important. However, the proposal to “spread” the reforms across a gradual ten-year period is not enough. As compared to the current experiences with Greece, the urgent need to complete economic and monetary Union is not taken into account, not to mention the need to create political union as soon as possible.
