After the fathers

An appeal “for a new consciousness on the part of all citizens of the European Union” since “the vision of the founding fathers of Europe is not a matter of the past”, but “is a plan for the future that our continent awaits”, was launched in Brussels on 28 February. The appeal was made by the Ixe Group (Initiative of the Christians of Europe) – a network of socially committed European Christians whose foundation was inspired by the Semaines Sociales in France and by the Committee of German Catholics (Zdk) – on the occasion of the presentation of the manifesto “Let us rediscover the meaning of the European Project”. The press conference at which the manifesto was presented was also attended, among others, by Michel Camdessus, president of the Semaines Sociales in France and one of the signatories of the document, and Thomas Jansen, Zdk representative. The Manifesto, signed by thirteen representatives of European organizations and movements of Christian inspiration, will be published by leading European dailies in March and proposed to the signature of citizens before being delivered to the German Presidency of the EU in preparation for the forthcoming Berlin Declaration of the future of Europe. (The Manifesto is available in all languages on the website of the Semaines Sociales: www.ssf-fr.org and in the near future it will also be possible to sign it online). PROJECT OF GREAT ACTUALITY. Today, observe the signatories of the Manifesto, “the difficulties of the international context, demographic ageing, and the growth of individualism and national selfishness make the European Project more fragile”. Therefore, as we approach 25 March 2007, 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaties of Rome, “Europe is now confronted with doubt and fear”, while “the governments of the member states behave like stockholders”, living on the past but slow in mapping new prospects for Europe. Yet, says the Manifesto, “European construction remains founded on a broader project which creates meaning and which is always of the same topic: reconciliation between people to build a space of peace, justice, prosperity and solidarity, a space open to and at the service of the whole world”. This heritage is “now threatened”. It needs to be revived in order to transmit it “to Europeans and the whole world”. GROWTH IN SOLIDARITY . “European dynamism is blocked”, says the Manifesto, and “the European project has less support and adherence from citizens, whose disenchantment about Europe was expressed almost everywhere by their weak participation in the last European elections and is the main cause of the rejection of the Constitutional Treaty by two of the founder states, France and the Netherlands”. So “a new reflection on the meaning” of this project is needed to “identify the forms of behaviour that we need to change and to prepare to assume responsibility in accordance with our history and our potential”. In the first place, emphasises the Manifesto, “Europeans today are becoming richer, but they seem less interdependent. Individualism saps their social bond”. In Europe “too many citizens remain excluded from the advantages of economic growth. We must clearly re-orient our individualistic way of life dominated by consumption”; we must “guarantee human dignity” and “a level of high employment and social protection in Europe”. The Manifesto also urges European leaders “to support economic growth on renewable resources and to follow budget policies more aimed at investments in the future”. In response to globalisation, the persistence of conflicts, poverty, planetary epidemics and migration, Europe has a “global responsibility”. It must “be a factor of peace, the promoter of solidarity and of common policies of immigration” and, above all, “a model for bringing together people of different cultures and religions”. It must put into practice “a world governance at the service of lasting development”.CONSCIOUS OF ITS OWN IDENTITY . “We are convinced that Europe must look further into its unity and find its coherence” and “in addition to the institutional adaptations, we expect heads of state and government to define a true ethics of European governance”, declare the signatories of the Manifesto. But “the European Union cannot be built without its citizens. It is thus essential to widen the scope for European citizenship, by supporting new forms of civil participation” and by “providing citizens with the means of understanding and of acting within a European democracy. The transformation of consciousness with regard to Europe presupposes a rehabilitation of politics and a mobilization of all the potential actors for a positive, clear and comprehensive communication, to enable Europe to come closer to the people and to allow each to better understand their own European identity”. The final appeal is to “men and women political leaders to integrate the European dimension into the heart of their strategies and in their speeches”; to the “media to present Europe, to make the various countries and cultures, and the nature and work of the European institutions, better known”; to “teachers to integrate a European dimension into their lessons”; to the “various actors of cultural life to multiply trans-border or trans-national exchanges”; and to all those responsible for civil society “to place their actions and achievements in a European point of view”.