Europe is more than just a free-trade zone, more than just another treaty. It is one of the first successful attempts ever to bring forgiveness and ethics to the heart of politics on a large scale. Europe is about making peace and building a safe future with your former enemies and with culturally different people.
European Parliament elections are just over (2009). The most disturbing piece of news is the record low turnout (43%), a paradox given the magnitude of the stakes: in the coming five years, the 736 newly elected MEP will debate and vote no less than 80% of the new legislation regarding 500 million European citizens. Their decisions will also directly affect the many non EU states which are applying European norms. They will bear on international trade – the European Commission has now shown the extent of its power by restraining the largest global companies (IBM, Microsoft, etc.). Beyond that, the MEP will intervene in development aid and conflict resolution in many troubled regions. Europe and its parliament are a leading force in fighting global warming and in supporting sustainable development. As Lebanese-born writer Amin Maalouf noted in his last book, Europe is the political entity in the world which has been consistently working on the real issues of sustainability with a deep ethical approach even if it seems somewhat nonchalant about it. So, why the disinterest?
As in many similar cases, there is a form of apathy linked to the gigantic size of the European Union, encouraging people to think their vote will make no difference. But more decisively most politicians seem unable to say what their European program is.
In our western democracies, politicians are used to ‘bargaining’ with their constituencies. For their local representatives, people will understandably go for those who bring jobs in their district, cut taxes and improve social services. On the national scene, voters also expect a positive fallout for themselves: lower taxes, better security, economic growth and employment, social services, culture, education… Sadly, nobody gets elected by talking about development aid or conflict resolution. It may be regrettable but this is a fact of democracy. Even those often celebrated great moments of democracy, the American and French Revolutions, started in large part as protests against excessive taxes. That fact is rooted in basic human psychology: the question asked by the electorate and dealt with by politicians is: what do I get, here and now, if I vote for you?
But Europe is more than just a free-trade zone, more than just another treaty. It is one of the first successful attempts ever to bring forgiveness and ethics to the heart of politics on a large scale. Europe is about making peace and building a safe future with your former enemies and with culturally different people. Europe is about going beyond your own boundaries and short-term interest. Ultimately Europe is about worldwide security and sustainability. So, because of this specific nature of the EU, politicians who want to be relevant in Europolitics must go beyond the usual ‘what you’ll get, here and now, if you vote for me’.
In these last elections, it would seem that those who did address wider questions fared rather better than their opponents. It was the case of the Eurosceptics, who as usual had a clear message – best summarised by the word ‘no’. It was also the case of the Green Party’s list in France which gained a surprising 16.2% of the votes capitalising on the image and message of their three leaders: veteran European politician Daniel Cohn-Bendit, former anti-corruption judge Eva Joly, farmer and environmental activist José Bové. That a list led by a German, seconded by a Norwegian and starting from almost nothing nearly came second behind the right and center-right coalition backing president Sarkozy goes to show the relevance of a program based on responsibility, integrity, environmental and long-term European issues.
Hopefully this new European political language will soon be spoken by more and more European politicians. Otherwise we might have to choose one day between Europe and democracy. Until now the most significant steps on the road of European unity have been rather undemocratic. The 1950 Monnet declaration was prepared in extreme secrecy and accepted by Adenauer within a few hours because of the deep trust that had been built with Robert Schuman (an episode in which Initiatives of Change played a role). Most of the government ministers were not even aware of what was going on! Further down the road, the Treaty of Rome was ratified by national parliaments, not by popular vote.
The referendum on the 1992 Maastricht Treaty was a risky but probably necessary step, due to the introduction of many major changes, and was successful only by a small margin (with Denmark voting twice to reverse their initial ‘nej’.). The attempt to get a general popular endorsement of a needlessly grandiloquent ‘constitution’ in 2005 proved to be an unrealistic endeavour. Statesmen and politicians have done an excellent job exercising leadership and building a lasting peace and prosperity in Europe, but now that direct democracy has been introduced at the European level, a new type of politics is needed.
The successful campaign by Daniel Cohn-Bendit and the Greens in France shows that it is possible – and needed, when running for European elections, to speak about more European, global, ethical and longer-term perspectives than usual.
Given the results, no doubt that a new generation of politicians will get the message, and will be both willing to communicate effectively on their action in the European arena and on global and ethical questions. They will find that there are voters ready to go into questions beyond their basic conservation instinct, proud to participate in European politics when they are explained to them and eager to reach superior, moral satisfaction by preparing a better world for their children and grand-children.
Antoine Jaulmes has been an engineer with PSA Peugeot Citroën since 1983, holding various positions in production and R&D. He is currently serving on the boards of the French Initiatives of Change, the Swiss Foundation Caux-Initiatives of Change and the Executive of the International Initiatives of Change Association. He is the publisher of the French language magazine Changer.
NOTE: Individuals of many cultures, nationalities, religions, and beliefs are actively involved with Initiatives of Change. These commentaries represent the views of the writer and not necessarily those of Initiatives of Change as a whole.
English