Romanticism and Realities
“Long live the European federation!” was the leitmotif of the speech Joschka Fischer, German minister of foreign affairs at Berlin’s Humboldt University. Many were, to put it mildly, surprised with Mr. Fischer’s address, for until now none of the top statesmen in the European Union member-states have ever spoken about any kind of federation. Moreover, it is impossible to make European commissioners and executives answer the question: what is actually the EU now and what should it ideally be like in the future? It is perhaps for this reason that the first commentators of the revolutionary speech doubt that Mr. Fischer at least informed Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder about his intentions. Mr. Schroeder’s romantic revolutionary plan suggests that Western Europe become a federation, a kind of United States of Europe with a single constitution, government, and parliament. It is planned to achieve this by means of an integration deeper than that now existing in the framework of the economic and monetary union and Schengen Agreement, as well as by forming what may be called a center of gravity consisting of several pioneer nations and open to other European Union full and candidate members.
The idea itself must be extremely interesting. In the long run, Aristide Briand and Robert Schuman, whose ideas it is now fashionable to cite when speaking about European integration, themselves dreamed of a multinational federation or confederation living under the same laws.
Such a federation would be the pinnacle of movement toward a united Europe, and all we would have to do is lament that we were left out of the process. For it is an open secret that the creators of a united Europe do not think it possible to take account of Ukraine in their plans.
But there such thing as reality. The reality is that European federalist ideas are not accepted today even by France which tries to act as a locomotive of European integration, as important as Germany. Paris only speaks about deeper integration and says that this integration should be of different geometry to enable certain countries to exceed their current level. Obviously, French society will never accept the idea of losing national sovereignty in favor of a federal system, even if the government explained its advantages every day. It is also obvious that this proposal of forming a federation will not go down well with London, where the word integration is not held in high esteem and where the Euroskeptics may well get the upper hand. The same thing is true in many other EU countries.
The reality is that the common currency of the eleven euro-zone countries will be weaker than the dollar. For it is no accident that France, to chair the EU from July 1, is going to hastily work out mechanisms to save the euro. Nor is it accidental that Britain, never enthusiastic about the euro from the very beginning, no longer speaks about having any intention to join the single currency. The reality is that Western European society as a whole has remained infected with its diseases of the past. If a third of the Austrians voted for Haider, if Berlusconi’s bloc won the local elections in Italy, then this is a serious warning. Terrorism is again rearing its head: ETA is killing people in Spain, and bombs go off in France. Moreover, the example of Kosovo can only inspire confidence in the terrorists of the Basque Country, Corsica, and God knows where else.
The reality is that nobody will risk today answering the simple question: where does Europe begin and end? It is obvious that the Europe Mr. Fischer must have meant, speaking about grandiose plans, will cease to exist as soon as the European Union begins to expand. It is becoming increasingly clear that neither EU institutions nor Western societies are prepared for this expansion. The French, in particular, when polled on this matter, took an extremely dim view. Even diplomats say in private conversation that they do not believe in a Europe as much expanded as it was conceived. On the other hand, you can hear more and more voices that EU expansion should be put off a little. Even if Mr. Fischer’s plans begin to be implemented, this expansion could remain a non-starter in general. Conversely, what could really emerge is a new iron curtain.
Federalization will probably have to wait, although it really would be nice to see a truly united Europe. In that case, there would be at least no speculations on the topic: with Europe against Russia or vice versa.
