Beyond history

Out of Europe! Or Europe ‘step back!’ Every week more or less authoritative personalities convey more or less determined stands calling for – and even threatening- their withdrawal from the European Union or for limiting EU powers, freedom of action, along with its political and economic scope. Marine Le Pen, candidate of the Front National to the upcoming presidential elections in France, recently declared that if she were elected President she would promote a referendum “to take France out of the EU”. A few days earlier Italy’s premier and Interior minister had envisaged the possibility of “revoking the contract”, albeit for different reasons. In the first case political-electoral motivations prevail, in the second case these scenarios are triggered by EU member States’ reluctance to grant Rome the concrete solidarity deemed necessary to face the immigration emergency from North-Africa. Notably, euro-skeptical, non anti-EU forces whose presence in the Old Continent dates back to the times of the first Treaties (ECSC, April 18 1951; EEC, March 25 1957), a few years ago acquired propagandistic impetus, popular consensus and electoral significance. A plethora of officials in the UK oppose adherence to Brussels’ and Strasbourg’s institutions; the same happens in previously strong pro-Europeanist countries such as The Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland and Greece. The situation is the same in part of Eastern Europe, including new EU Member States, of which Poland is an emblematic case. Indeed, the Country’s ex premier Jaroslaw Kaczynski has returned to the charge in view of the upcoming national elections and of the six-month presidency that will be assumed by Warsaw in the second semester of 2011. On their wake follow – just to mention a few cases – the “True Finns”, an extreme-right, nationalistic party that gained a popular majority vote in the April 17 elections. Its leader Timo Soini focused his electoral campaign hailing against immigration and financial bailout to Greece, Ireland and Portugal, underlining the need to freeze the “rescue Fund” on which EU27 reached an agreement past March after countless difficulties and criticism.And while populism seems to prevail, while nationalistic, regionalist and localist forces, coupled with the extreme left and right fringes that are calling for “less Europe”, the determined stands pertaining to traditionally Europeanist parties such as the Christian Democrats, the Socialists, the Liberals and the Greens, are barely heard. Statesmen with the stature of the “founding fathers”, with the stature of Kohl, Mitterrand, Delors, politicians capable of motivating long-ranging visions of European integration are nowhere to be seen. Why? Undoubtedly, the economic crisis and the surging migration flows have placed new concrete obstacles to European solidarity. At the same time, the EU and its Member States are marked by inefficiency, delays, along with political and legislative cumbersome technicalities. All the above tends to abate citizens’ enthusiastic sentiments upholding EU integration. But while anti-European sentiments are a-historical (political isolationism, economic “autarchy”, xenophobia, are dangerous elements that risk triggering tensions whilst undermining democratic stability and peace) a trend-changing response could only come from renewed thrust by the EU. A question ensues: are national political leaders, EU institutions and European citizens capable of perceiving this challenge, and are they jointly pursuing efficient responses to the current scenarios?