End of a Dream, or Start of an Awakening?

What is the meaning of the Brexit tragicomedy, which has been making front-page news for three years now? Why did the British suddenly decide to leave the European Union when they had benefited from it for 46 years? And as Europeans, should we be concerned about the bad example that the English are giving and which could encourage other EU countries to abandon the ship? Or should we rather rejoice in their departure and trumpet “Good riddance!”?

Unfortunately, all these questions call for others. For twenty years now, doubts regarding European unification have kept growing. And as Europhobia has become the warhorse of Europe’s populist parties, and those parties are winning more and more electoral victories, could the European Union soon collapse? Was the European construction launched in 1957 by the Treaty of Rome just a utopian project after all, to which it is time to put an end?

All these questions deserve to be asked, because in the face of the challenges of the new world order and the current aberrations of political life on all continents, the confusion which is taking hold of Europe is no good adviser. It has become urgent to take stock of the current state of the European Union, its successes and failures, as well as its qualities and shortcomings, in order to define its future direction, and what remains to be done to restore its dynamics and give solid foundation to its future prospects.

Political ideologies and the great theories of European ecumenism are of little use in trying to understand today’s Europe and its inescapable realities. As for the passionate or careless statements of our political leaders, they tend to confuse us rather than enlighten us about the future of Europe. Given the contradictory opinions that are circulating today, it is better to patiently and objectively analyze the situation, and then to propose ideas primarily based on common sense.

First of all, it must be borne in mind that European unification is an undertaking of phenomenal importance, the unfolding and profound significance of which are unprecedented in history. But we also have to recognize that under the combined effect of Europe’s failures, the EU’s flaws and weaknesses, the Europhobic populist ardour and the lack of concrete and positive reaction from the political class, the European project has been stalled for twenty years, and it is now seriously threatened with a slow death, or ultimate and irreversible failure.

Common sense today suggests that Europe will never be what it should be until Brussels’ current political-bureaucratic mess has been replaced with a democratically elected head of state and a real government, and until a federal type of structure has been put in place to put an end to the endless and destructive bickering between European political leaders. Everything indicates that such a structure will be the only logical, simple and effective way of reconciling the indispensable unified management of the European Union with the political and cultural autonomy of the member countries. Unfortunately, this obvious fact, although recognized by a good number of convinced Europeanists and by experts in political science, has been stumbling for 20 years on a real mental block of the European political elite, unable to cross the Rubicon of the EU’s political integration.

In addition to the urgency of crossing this Rubicon, it is essential for Europe to play its role on the world stage. Because under the combined effect of various global trends, including the currently erratic behaviour of Donald Trump’s America and the lightning growth of China’s economic, political and military power, the world order created in the aftermath of World War II is undergoing a major transformation. Faced with the innumerable uncertainties resulting from this transformation, it is essential for Europe to become aware of the ongoing drastic reshaping of the world, and to complete its own construction to be able to play the proactive peaceful superpower role it should be playing. Because if the current fragmentation of Europe persists, the nations that compose it will become the vassals of tomorrow’s superpowers. As the saying goes, Europe is still “an economic giant, but a political dwarf”. It is therefore its duty to do whatever is necessary to correct this anomaly.

Given all the uncertainties that currently weigh on Europe and the clarifications needed to respond properly, this book was written for the simple purpose of emphasizing and explaining in detail all the realities mentioned above, keeping in mind the objectivity and common sense that dealing with this important subject requires.

Today, as at the time of the Treaty of Rome, there is nothing utopian about the European dream that has given rise to the European nations’ current desire to unite. But to realize this dream, Europe must start by waking up, because it has many problems to solve and major decisions to make to control its future. I hope this book will at least have the merit of contributing to this essential awakening.

Bernard Pelletier
European citizen
August 25, 2019