EurHope | towards a movement of “European Natives”
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Transcript of EurHope | towards a movement of “European Natives”
EurHope
Inaugural LectureAlessandro Fusacchia
Santa Chiara Millennials’ LabSiena, 13-18 May 2016
Part I
The rise and fall of the European Union
(1992 – 2016)
The rise and fall of the European Union
12 years 12 years
Part 2
The progressive stalemateof the European Union
goals of European integration
at the beginning and for the first few decades
increasingly since the '90s
peace & security France & Germany: no more at war
terrorism & failing states
economic prosperity establishment of the Single Market
international agreements on trade, environment, etc.
solidarity cohesion/regional policy - structural funds
migration flows / refugees
freedom four freedoms data/privacy with the US / developments in Turkey
The progressive stalemate of the EU
INSIDE the EU OUTSIDE the EU
Over the last 25 years, the progressive stalemate of the European Union has been mainly
due to the inability to adapt governance and tools from inward- to outward-looking.
Why unable?
The Community Method
● Policy driven (competences referring to Treaties) + role of the ECJ
● Regulatory powers but limited budget
● Governance rather than government
(“everybody is involved, nobody is responsible”)
● EU inclined to constitutionalise everything (e.g. 3% deficit/GDP)
● Over time, evolution towards re-nationalisation: rise of EU Council
● EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: allegiances of MEPs are often more
national than partisan; there is no government to give a confidence
vote & Parliament cannot be dissolved before the term;
(“no taxation without representation”)
Commission proposes legislation
Parliament + Council jointly adopt it
European Council
Commission
Parliament Council
The original mechanics has long been useful to incrementally expand (and deepen) the policy areas of EU intervention, but has proven eventually unfit to transform the EU into a democracy-as-we-know-it
The current stalemate
● Europe is not equipped with tools to confront the rest of the world and thus fully pursue its original goals
● The original method has exhausted its spillover effect and thus its capacity to incrementally and “automatically” integrate EU further
● New common and relevant policies are unlikely to be consensual and would require politics, whereas European integration entails to reduce (ideally neutralize/nullify) the role of politics
● We are not equipped (i.e. we have no institutions, strategies, tools) to jointly face new threats or crisis
● Populism is spreading quickly across Europe
mass mobilisation, polarisation, dynamics government/opposition, etc
from the Euro and increasing rates of unemployment to massive inflows of
immigrants and refugees
Part 3
Grains of hope
Erasmus
● Its budget of € 3.1 billion for the period 2007-13 provided opportunities to study, train, gain experience abroad.
● Overall, by the end of the academic year 2013-14, the Erasmus programme had supported 3.3 million Erasmus students and 470,000 staff since its launch 27 years ago.
● Top five organising countries: IT, NL, DE, FR, BE.
● More than 350 000 academic and administrative staff received support from Erasmus to teach or train abroad.
Low Cost
- Transport
A 37% increase in numbers year on year from July 2014 to June 2015, with continuing growth expected: 306 million passengers. European Low Fares Airline Companies have 90,172 employees and 1,353 aircrafts.
- Communication
As of the end of April, roaming fees across Europe have dropped dramatically. In addition, the European Commission will scrap roaming data charges in its 28 member countries entirely from June 2017.
The European Public Sphere
- Nothing to do with the Brussels bubble, but with newspapers and TV news of different countries opening same day on same topic:
Greece Terrorism Migrants
Grains in the Treaties
● European initiative: 1M citizens can ask for legislation in a field ○ An invitation to the European Commission to propose legislation on matters
where the EU has competence to legislate ○ A citizens’ initiative has to be backed by at least one million EU citizens, coming
from at least 7 out of the 28 member states.
● European citizenship (since Maastricht)○ European citizenship was given legal status in 1992, granting all citizens of EU
member states a secondary citizenship at the supranational level○ It affords rights such as the right to vote in European elections, the right to free
movement, settlement and employment across the EU…
Both unused. Both with high potential.
Part 4
Your turn begins tonight
We are institutionally stuck. No Treaty reform will change this.
A movement of “European Natives”
● feeling at home everywhere in Europe
● aware of their being “European citizens”
● convinced that they can be the most powerful response to widespread populism across Europe
● committed to aggregate and mobilise other citizens and communities across different countries, further develop integration
● determined to work on this agenda for – at least – the next 12 years
A movement of “European Natives”?Where is such
12 years
Europe raises again
12 years 12 years
GooD LuCk!
[email protected]@Fusacchia #SIYlab
Santa Chiara Millennials’ LabSiena, 13-18 May 2016 aa