Is public opinion prepared to work with and support a process that inevitably is going to be less than lightning quick? They are seen as—well, as putting pressure on others, dominating them. And there are many other examples when, in terms of rhetoric, Central European countries seem to be anti-European. Definitely, to analyze public opinion perception about European Union, this is a very difficult task. But I wonder if you could talk about political pressures that might have been created, or alleviated, for that matter, by internal migration in Europe, the shuffling of European populations. And they were seen also by Germany over a very long period of time as an instrument for more integration, also of better integrating Germany into the European Union. MEAD: Well, Stewart, that’s a good point. Obviously, she had her own—the burdens of German history there, too. Wolfgang Tillmans: Vote out populism. They started as gradual processes. They discuss questions of politics, religion, commerce, law, language, literature and affectivity. We actually have restrained ourselves to actually talking about the topic at hand. The council is made up of the Union’s 27 heads of state, plus a president. There needs to be, also, a common external border and coast guard and asylum agency to deal with that. And it’s obvious that between the European countries, many countries have their own national interests. Thank you very much for that very helpful opening historical survey. I mean, after crisis 2008 and ’(0)9, when definitely many Europeans had some doubt about common currency, since 2013 we observe a positive trend, and more and more countries and citizens believe in the euro currency, especially those who adopted euro currency quite recently. I just wanted to pick up on the notion of a halfway house that you had mentioned. Please remember to completely turn off your cellphones, BlackBerrys, and other devices. And then, of course, you think about alternatives. And this is also very important to have in our mind, that when we discuss about EU crisis and the European idea, people usually, they do not follow this discussion. February 17, 2021. So they didn’t want a more integrated Europe. Thank you, Madam Hauser, for hosting here. And that’s why they’re a little bit—much more positive than a few years ago. Q: Ennen (ph), King’s College London and Chatham House. SHARES. 3. They are unfinished business, and now they are struck by this kind of dysfunctionality. Because you mentioned a lot of contingent factors. But, on the other hand, there are many examples of quite positive image of European Union among European citizens. And that is the problem we face now. I think that, at the very beginning, after eastern enlargement in 2004, indeed, we observe strong interest in Central Europe towards European integration, adaption our legislation and political systems to EU standards. MEAD: Great, Stewart. However, non-alignment, which became increasingly difficult to implement as the Cold War intensified, was soon defended only by the pacifist and internationalist movements. Question mark. A question asks for information rather than imparting it. First of all, I would say that, starting with the sovereign debt crisis, which then escalated into the crisis around Greece, for the first time it was put on the table to kick out a member state, so the Grexit problem. We have Stewart Patrick, senior fellow and director of the International Institutions and Global Governance Program at the Council on Foreign Relations; Jaroslaw Cwiek-Karpowicz, head of Research Office at the Polish Institute of International Affairs; Barbara Lippert, director of research, German Institute for International and Security Affairs, Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik. I’m in the religion business. … Within national parliaments, particularly those of the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Italy, the number of supporters of federalism was progressively increasing. So this is one of the major problems. And in Central Europe, of course, we underline that there is strong need not to overlap with NATO, and that we really would—and, as you know, majority of EU countries are also NATO members. PATRICK: Yeah, very quickly, I think, in addition to Helmut Kohl, of course, Francois Mitterrand played a very strong role at that time too. And then, of course, we have, I would say, not a real crisis—that is Brexit, the threat to have this referendum on membership. And still I think that EU is very much concerned how to encourage mobility of Europeans. But what Barbara said about Central European perspective I think is very important to underline because now, among 28 members, almost half of them, they are Central European countries. And this is something maybe national governments would like to stop and block for a moment, not just to go too far and to keep their sovereignty. I was wondering where that would come. And that is something which, of course, is very much up to the member states to address it. The common good is a crucial idea in the political, economic, social and cultural debates in the European Union, as it appears clear in its constitutional foundations. (Laughter.) The history of the European idea, obviously, goes back centuries, if not perhaps even millennia, but has been particularly gripping and compelling to Europeans since the … MEAD: Well, we’re about to have some huge and colossal and classy suggestions, I’m sure. PATRICK: I think the most immediate problem has to be to get a handle on the migrant crisis, and to come up with a common means of processing refugee and asylum applications—not merely processing them, but let’s say this deal with Turkey sticks despite some ethical and international legal questions about it. And we’ve still—we’ve still tried to repeat this obligation that Poland, sooner or later, would be a member of eurozone, but now we would like to wait a little bit. Indeed, there is a big, let’s say, contribution of Central European countries towards integration and create common energy policy. So Brexit, for you, is the number one of all of the crises. The Wiky Legal Encyclopedia covers legislation, case law, regulations and doctrine in the United States, Europe, Asia, South America, Africa, UK, Australia and around the … April 2, 2021 It’s not because it’s a pro just for supranational, against governmental modes of policymaking. Europe – Civilization. And I just wonder if we aren’t underestimating the resilience of the European Union, given three very large shocks that it has withstood in the last few years. And quite recently European Union published the result of surveys, and more than 60 percent of Europeans believe in the future of European Union, and almost the same percentage believe in EU more than in the national parliaments and national governments. (Applause. Why is the United States still struggling to figure out what to do about the Assad regime? While some favoured a federation led by a federal authority — or even a European government — others preferred a simple association of sovereign States. (Laughs.) And, obviously, also we have terrorism and migration issues. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signature foreign policy undertaking and the world’s largest infrastructure program, poses a significant challenge to U.S. economic, political, climate change, security, and global health interests. It could accommodate many different solutions. President Trump sent U.S. troops to the border with Mexico to supplement the work of authorities there. Well, now let’s open this up for questions from members and just—I know many of you have been through this drill many times before, but when called on, please wait for the microphone and speak directly into it. And we’re looking increasingly at, inside Brussels itself, this—the problem of European institutions that seem to have a harder time processing problems. Am I correct that—from your remarks, all of you, that the United States is largely irrelevant to the kinds of problems that you have discussed and that you are quite pleased that the U.S. is not pushing any American proposals or solutions? And it’s not by chance that, very often, when we observe the process of enlargement of these two institutions, the first enlargement is NATO enlargement, in Central and Southeastern Europe, OK? Once upon a time the environment was the EU’s next big idea. And now, in the wake of Paris and now Brussels and undoubtedly more terrorist events, you have a third S, security, coming into play. So that, in a way, it’s always a bit too late. So I think it’s a—it’s a—it could be very difficult for U.K., for European Union to adapt to this new situation. For example, where European Union is thinking about sanctions against Russia, we heard from Central European leaders some voices that maybe we should deal with Russia, we should not impose sanctions. Why are these crises so severe? No, I think that the United States is—clearly, when you think about the history of European integration, the United States was hugely relevant in a number of ways at different moments during that historical process. Thousands of young people dreamed of a united Europe, sometimes even of a unified and peaceful world. And the same is with euro currency. Inside the European Union, we still have the terrible problems resulting from the economic crisis that have really not been resolved almost a decade later. Do you think that you might be underestimating the structural nature of this crisis? I think that with respect to the current situation, this is obviously largely an issue for Europeans to work out themselves in terms of the future of the European project. There was never one single European idea, but obviously, in the aftermath of the Second World War and the tremendous carnage created there, there was an effort to try to—and largely, it had discredited nationalism and the nation-state—with the important exception, I might add, of the United Kingdom. LIPPERT: I agree with Stewart as far as the priorities are concerned when you look at policy fields. With regard to the form of and procedures for European unification, ideas often diverged according to political and ideological affiliation. So I think it is, to some extent, still the problem of output legitimacy. This is one of the biggest examples when, despite the big pressure from German business, Angela Merkel was able to play against its interests for Europe’s security. 2. Which, of course, makes—and now we’re, again, at the output side—makes all the decision-making very slow and cumbersome, and you—I think you mostly don’t have something like swift and bold decisions when you look at Brussels. IDEA is an advisory service that provides innovative ideas and a unique space for research and collaboration on core Commission priorities. In order to avoid the world being divided into two antagonistic blocs and to prevent the inevitably ensuing war, it seemed essential to establish a third European pole. But, that being said, there’s only a limited amount, besides giving—helping try to end the conflict and giving money to countries in the region to hopefully begin to deal with the migration refugee problem close at hand that the United States can actually do, I think, to help solve these problems. And I would always say, given the weaknesses within this triangular leadership we normally have together with France and the U.K., Germany at some points feels quite alone in taking on the dossier. ISBN 0-521-79171-5 – ISBN 0-521-79552-4 (pbk.) Reflections on the European Idea in theory and in practise Continued potential for peaceful change is the principal condition ; politics must be a process. State and Local Conference Calls and Webinars, C. Peter McColough Series on International Economics With Kristalina Georgieva, Virtual Event And, of course, the whole idea is to always find new compromises. ISIS? with Betsey Stevenson And there is, of course, the question whether there is a mandate for the European Union to also interfere in domestic politics, and that’s quite new. It means that if Brits votes against European Union membership, we have European—we have United Kingdom outside the European Union—no associated, nor in some links with European Union. And I think that, in the past, if we look at lessons from the past, we could see that the supranational institutions played a very important role. So here we made a very good example in the energy sphere. This chapter explores the basic concept of Western European Unity. China is successfully using the Belt and Road Initiative to promote the adoption of Huawei 5G, while the United States is looking to reverse these gains. But whenever things that impact directly on national electorates is concerned, then consensus becomes harder. But in reality, they play exactly in line with European interests. My love for Europe was further stimulated during my time as a Member of the European Parliament. And you might—and it’s interesting. ‘The Tainted Source: The Undemocratic Origins of the European Idea’ by John Laughland was originally published in 1997 and has been out of print for the past eighteen years. I am particularly pro-European – no doubt this has something to do with my place of birth, Limburg, which lies between Germany and Belgium. Quite suddenly, the idea of the “good European” — one that, at least for Nietzsche, was defined against almost everything German — has become someone who keeps a … THE EUROPEAN IDEA THE EUROPEAN IDEA Miller, J. D. B. Thank you, Walter. The idea of a specifically European unity finally became, at least for some, a feasible project, not only to avoid another war but to avoid the destruction of the idea of European unity. For almost 25 years, the European Union has been a model of democracy, free trade, and fraternity between nations. Because I think what Barbara’s telling us is that progress is going to be difficult and slow, and this is—this is no break with European history. And there’s a big question as to whether now, in this current circumstance—the eurozone crisis, which continues to percolate along, and also the humanitarian migration crisis—whether or not that dynamic will actually persist. It seems to me that the easiest way for a disparate group of people to coalesce around a common purpose is to unite in defense against a common enemy. When you look at the economy, when you look at what’s happening in some of the member states, which I would call a fractioning process, fractioning with regard to basic democratic values, but also when you look at democratic governance. And among, then, the less-optimistic are countries who are still outside the eurozone—so, U.K., Denmark, but also Poland and a few other countries. It has always been reluctant to take on this role. And so you have—that’s what I was trying to get at in a way with the—there are reasons why the European Union has not been given the powers of a state, including to manage crisis management, because it does not have democratic legitimacy as much as the national governments which constitute it. Please note that the meeting will begin with a prerecorded address by the IMF Managing Director, followed by live conversation. And then we have a problem of other countries who also would like to follow U.K. in this regard, that they also would like to negotiate some special status. CWIEK-KARPOWICZ: Sure, sure. And that was, of course, the introduction of the euro. These groups were fully behind the Stockholm Appeal, which the World Peace Council launched in March 1950 to demand a total worldwide ban on nuclear weapons. With that somewhat grim background, Stewart might kick us off with just a few remarks about the history of the European idea and the European Union. Proof The European Union Was Hitler’s Idea. But I think there are some particular observations we can make. – (Woodrow Wilson Center series) Includes bibliographical references and index. Please limit yourselves to one question. Many international congresses were also organised in order to bring this idea to fruition. And we’re, in fact, the ones that pushed during the Marshall Plan era for a united states of Europe and were more religious than the pope on that score for quite some time during those years—passing congressional resolutions; stating it was the sense of the U.S. Congress that the united states of Europe be formed, et cetera. ), OK? The European Union is a unique economic and political union between 28 EU countries that together cover much of the continent.The predecessor of the EU was created in the aftermath of the Second World War. Please turn it off completely. What Is the World Doing to Distribute COVID-19 Vaccines? On the other hand, we may observe that these countries are very much interested in further integration or just rather to keep the European Union as it is now. Twitter 1.7k Facebook LinkedIn Email Reddit Telegram. supports HTML5 video, Senior Fellow and Director of the International Institutions and Global Governance Program, Council on Foreign Relations, Head of Research Office, Polish Institute of International Affairs, Director of Research, German Institute for International and Security Affairs, Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP), James Clarke Chace Professor in Foreign Affairs and Humanities, Bard College. The subject is the idea of Europe. That’s very interesting. And despite the fact that France, Germany, or Italy, they want to be in the EU, they still want to protect their national interest. One of them would be towards more Brussels and more centralization in a way, and the other would be to move more in an intergovernmental direction. I also want to thank Rita Hauser in particular for all of—her sponsorship of this event over the years. And something—at least I think—I believe at the end of February they had only resettled about 500 of them, after several months. Or are these really problems of application and practical issues that we’re looking at? It’s a time also to contribute and take responsibility. European citizenship through the Treaty of the European Union, which aimed at creating a closer Union among the peoples of Europe. Let me just ask the three of you, before we open this to the panel, to tell us briefly what you think the top priority of the European Union, or of Europe, needs to be at this moment among this multitudinous array of problems. The European Union, the free market and the single currency were all plans originally dreamt up by high ranking Nazis, including Hitler himself. MEAD: Jaroslaw, how much patience do you see in public opinion? PATRICK: Yeah, I think Ennen (ph), who I went to graduate school with and basically learned everything I know about the European Union from his coattails. After decades of sustained land operations, the U.S. Marine Corps is looking back out to sea, embracing its roots as a naval expeditionary force. But I think that profits are so huge for public opinion, and citizens really want to continue this trend, that probably, despite the immigration crisis, EU would follow this path and would encourage Europeans to be much more flexible, mobile, and create many advantages for them for looking for jobs in different EU states. What Germany has to learn is playing the geopolitical game. And the European integration process has been one in fits and starts. 1.7k. with Kristalina Georgieva Backgrounder And I think one of the problems that we’ve seen over the course of the last seven decades is the degree to which this elite-driven and often technocratic movement towards integration has led to an increasing democratic deficit and questions of—not only simply a democratic deficit with respect to institutions of the European Union, but also an emotional deficit. March 25, 2021 PATRICK: It’s a bizarre success for a Council on Foreign Relations event. It's the idea that only 18 hand picked top teams in Europe can create entertaining football. One of the examples is energy policy, where Poland and many Central European countries are very much interested in creating a common energy market. And it was, of course, established to deal with all those challenges the nation-state cannot. There are no airplanes until tomorrow. I think that both the eurozone crisis and the migration crisis have exposed the tensions and contradictions between the retention of much power within the nation-state and only a partial—only partial union at the Brussels level. MEAD: Well, Barbara, why don’t you begin as our sort of—the person with the closest connections to Germany? And so those fundamental contradictions have come up. MEAD: Well, in just a couple of minutes we are going to open the conversation to the members. This ‘European idea’ was a driving force behind the establishment of the European Union. And today we have the paradox that every issue you have described goes back—Germany should solve it. Take a number. And my strong speculation will be that it will move more into some looser arrangements and also some—you know, people have been talking about even, you know, core Schengen or core Europe.