The future in our hands

“Europe is not in decline”, “Our future lays in our own hands. We should not be our own enemy. We have to be our own ally”. This warning, along with the invitation to judge the “State of the Union” with “a certain distance, a certain serenity and above all: a sense of proportion”, and “to stay focused on the long term agenda” with “determination and hope” was addressed on June 29 by the president of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy, who addressed the first Annual Forum at the State of the European Union titled “Revitalizing the European Dream”. The European Executive Council, representing chief executive officers and top managers in charge of the European business of their multinationals, promotes the meeting at the Palais Egmont in Brussels. Political courage. “It may be incorrect to say so, but in my view, the state of the Union is not so bad, even if the mood is not so good”, claimed Van Rompuy concluding the two-day debate. “But this afternoon the mood is better than this morning – after the positive vote in the Greek Parliament (on the second austerity plan, ed.’s note). Political courage still exists”, he added. Van Rompuy downsized the proportions of recent events, such as Germany’s abstention in the UN Security Council vote on Libya, which “absolutely cannot be compared with the divisions at the time of the Iraqi war! These incidents are added to the sovereign debt crisis in the Eurozone – which is real but also solvable – whereas the Euro itself is very strong”, underlined the president of the European Council. The “European dream”. According to the EU Council president, “the European Union is a historically unique achievement. It has always been built gradually and it has emerged stronger from every crisis. There is no reason that this time it would be different”. Today’s Union “is a powerful political and economic bloc of 27 members encompassing the European continent. Of course more can be done and needs to be done. Yet unique achievements like 60 years of peace, the Euro, the Internal Market, or the Schengen passport union have already made a dream come true”. “Stability, democracy and peace”, “social system and environmental standards”: for Van Rompuy “We are living in a Union of values” which “people from other continents envy”, a “privileged situation” to which “the work undertaken in the name of Europe, by those who – since 1950 – pursued the European Dream”, founded on “peace, prosperity and power” has “contributed immensely”. “We can be proud of that, and we should show it”.In the pipeline. But the EU is a builder’s yard. “Just one week ago, the Union’s 27 Heads of State or Government paved the way for Croatia to become our 28th Member State”. “In the European Council we also saluted the step forward which Serbia took last month with the arrest of Ratko Mladic”. It was a victory “for European diplomacy and for the Union’s tenacity in upholding our values. The President of the European Council pointed out: “Only fifteen years ago, the countries in question were involved in a horrible civil war, only 1500 kilometres from here, and at the borders of our Union”. In that respect, he added, “the entry of the Western-Balkans into the Union is the last great work of peace on our continent. And I call on all of you to bear in mind the responsibility we have. As long as a club attracts new members it is in good shape. Europe is still sexy”.Determination and hope. Referring to the European “power”, understood as a “common presence in the world”, Van Rompuy underlined that Europe “needs to be strong in the world because we are facing great global economic challenges”, and that it has “an historical task in the Mediterranean”. For this reason, he explained, “we are proposing a partnership with the countries in North Africa and the Middle East”. “We support the movements towards economic progress and toward democracy and political rights” he said. “These countries count on Europe. Without us there will be a Spring, but not Summer”. “In the middle of turmoil related to the difficulties of some countries in the Eurozone – he cautioned – we have to stay focused on the long term agenda. In difficult periods some are seduced by feelings of despair and pessimism”. But that “is a mistake”. What is needed is “determination and hope”. “Twenty years ago the citizens of Central Europe beat communism” and their dream was “to join Europe. They did. Ten years ago the Euro was launched, an unprecedented achievement”. The Euro today is “a strong currency”, “notwithstanding all the problems we have now”. “Living the European dream” – concluded Van Rompuy – is not just a task for the politicians”. The task ahead is “to convince Europe’s citizens that the endeavours of these times are worthwhile”. Hence the appeal “for Europe to aspire to a new, enticing economic dream”; “a strong economy and a strong Europe”.