Work in progress

”Immigrants arriving in Italy are a European – and not an Italian – problem. And we must seek to solve this question as soon as possible”, said the President of the European Parliament Jerzy Buzek on May 9, in the framework of the first Festival of Europe that closed in Florence on May 10, answering a question by journalists regarding the stand conveyed in his speech by the President of the Italian Republic Giorgio Napolitano. During a live broadcast from the Quirinal Palace on the occasion of the international conference on “The State of the Union”, the highlight of the European Festival, Napolitano underlined “the unsatisfactory role of the European Union vis a vis international political events”, referring in particular to the “insurgent events, loaded with unknown potential, taking place in the Mediterranean, in Africa and in the Middle East”, over which the EU “failed to convey a common stand”. Hence the invitation “to create the conditions” enabling the EU to become “a global player, independent and active in foreign affairs” and in matters pertaining to “international security”.Economic challenge, solidarity and responsibility. Buzek said in the address that opened the two-day conference (May 9-10, the first day on Europe After Lisbon, the second on The Euro after Lisbon) – “the EU is still a work in progress. We have been operating under the new Lisbon Treaty for almost eighteen months. We have created new procedures – like the citizens initiative, which allow for greater involvement of citizens in the legislative process. We have a new External Action Service. Both the European Parliament and National Parliaments have acquired new powers. We have a new institution, the European Council with its permanent President”. Moreover, he remarked, “The most important challenge is the economy. The situation in some Member States is dramatic. We are witnessing unemployment levels in certain countries – especially among young people – which have not been since the 1930s.” According to the President of the EU Parliament, in order to redress financial instability in some Eurozone countries “there must be solidarity with responsibility”. “We have to show solidarity to Member States not only when things are going well, but also when they go badly” but “Member State governments have to also show responsibility”. The European Parliament “also supported the changes to the Treaty”, along with the so-called Euro plus pact (the stability pact for the euro zone ed.’s note), To exit quickly from the crisis we must also continue with structure reforms in compliance with the Lisbon 2020 Strategy”. Buzek didn’t conceal his concern over the outcome of national elections in certain Countries such as Finland, Hungary and The Netherlands, where the ultranationalist parties gained large consensus. For the president of the European Parliament “egoism and anti-Europeanism appears where there is a financial crisis and money begins to lack”. Nonetheless Buzek said he confides that the European Union is following a path whereby “history cannot be reversed”. Fragile and divided. In his “diagnosis” on the state of health of the EU Joseph Weiler, Professor at the New York University and Jean Monnet chair, didn’t beat around the bush and stressed the “deep structural issue” along with the “most pressing and profound manifestations of the current weakness, some would say crisis, of Europe”. “First of all, there is the persistent, chronic, troubling Democracy Deficit, which cannot be talked away”., he pointed out. Then there is a “deeper legitimacy crisis, where citizens’ growing indifference is turning into hostility and worse”. And finally, “there is, Lisbon notwithstanding, the embarrassing failure of Europe to translate its economic might into political power”. With reference to the Libyan crisis Weiler added: “without massive American military involvement, Europe, let us be clear, would have simply been unable to undertake any action in so-called Mare Nostrum” but even these leaders “were unable to find an accord”. Education and mobility. “We live in one Europe and in a world where we are increasingly dependent on one another. Never before have peoples and cultures interacted so frequently and so intensively as now. This means that the ability to understand other cultures, the ability to speak foreign languages, the ability to communicate in general have never been so important” said Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for Education, Culture and Youth in the presentation of “Youth on the Move”. The program, “launched in autumn last year, is one of the European Union’ seven flagship initiatives for smart, sustainable and inclusive economic recovery”. Commissioner Vassiliou illustrated the Erasmus, Leonardo and Comenius programs. “Time has shown that these programs bring real benefits for the individuals and organisations that take part”, Vassiliou assured: “In Brussels I am arguing for stronger European support for education and training in general and for mobility in particular”.