A new narrative

D66 vision for Europe

A new narrative

Good news: Europe is headed for a bright future

D66 vision for Europe

A new narrative

Good news: Europe is headed for a bright future

Š june 2012

table of contents

04

Preface

08

The world of 1957

12

The world of 2012

22

Ready for the new world?

24

Back to the drawing board

28

Legitimacy and solidarity

32

Who are we?

38

A narrative for everybody

44

Model 2057

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A new narrative

In the current crisis, it sounds almost ridiculous to be optimistic. And yet we have every reason to be.

It is said that under pressure, everything becomes fluid. And whatever is fluid can take on a new form.

Never before have we had such a good opportunity to reshape Europe.

preface

05

The European Union is going through the most turbulent period in its history. Not only are we experiencing the worst economic crisis for eighty years, but today’s world is also undergoing rapid change. Europe must face up to completely new challenges. New technologies are turning everything upside-down and challenging vested interests. New countries are appearing on the world political stage and demanding that the old ones make room for them. But Europe is hesitating and is anxiously turning its back on the world. Europeans doubt themselves and their ability to tackle problems and rise to challenges. We are desperately trying to deal with things in the old trusted way. But the methods of governing Europe we devised in the 1950s are no longer sufficient.

In the 1950s we decided to link European states so closely together that they would never be able to wage war on each other again.

In the aftermath of two world wars, we, as Europeans, decided to tie our destinies together in order to guarantee peace and freedom.

It turned out to be a successful model, and ever more countries decided to join. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, we managed to heal the decades-long division of Europe.

‘ Europeans have proven to have enormous resilience’ The path of European integration has never been smooth. There were doubters and opponents from day one. There have been regular blockades, conflicts and crises throughout the more than six decades or so of its history. But in the current climate of ­uncertainty and mistrust, a gloomy feeling sometimes comes over us that there is no way out. While political leadership should reassure us and restore our confidence, there is too much

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A new narrative

political instability, and democracy itself seems almost to be ­faltering. We too easily forget that we Europeans have proven to have enormous resilience. Again and again, we come out of the crisis stronger than ever. Again and again, we have seemed more capable than we ourselves thought.

The world will confront us with enormous challenges in the coming decades. European integration in the 21st century is not just about the mutual relationship between European countries but about Europe’s relationship with the world. The world expects Europe to play a leading role. European citizens also expect Europe to play a leading role in the world.

But with a ‘Model 1957’ administration, Europe will find it ­impossible to assume this leading role, even if we patch it up a little. Model 1957 is moth-eaten and belongs in a museum.

In order to rise to the challenges and take up the new opportunities, Europe must take the step towards fully fledged political ­union, creating a community of 500 million citizens: Model 2057.

Right now, when everything is moving, we must go back to the drawing board and redesign Europe. We now have the oppor­ tunity to bring about a radical democratic renewal of the eu ■

preface

‘ European integration in the 21st century is not just about the mutual relationship between European countries but about Europe’s relationship with the world’

07

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A new narrative

The world of 1957 Chapter 1

The world of 1957

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1951 saw the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community, the first step on the road to European cooperation. But it was with the Treaty of Rome in 1957 that European integration really took off. What was the world like in those days?

In 1957, we used to make calls with bakelite telephones and listened to transistor radios. There were only 120,000 television sets, a brand-new invention, in the Netherlands, and only 12 hours of broadcasting time per week. In 1957, the Trabant was invented in East Germany, followed a year later by the Dutch daf passenger car with its ‘Pientere Pookje’ (variomatic transmission).

In around 1960, only one in six Dutch families had a car.

The very first traffic jam ever was seen at Oudenrijn in 1955.

The car owner’s main problem was not emissions but rust. It was not until twelve years later that man landed on the moon. It was only in 1956 that women were given full legal capacity. The law required sexual obedience to one’s husband (until 1991!), and it was not until 1969 that the open sale of contraceptives was permitted. The Episcopal Edict of 1954 strictly prohibited Dutch Catholics from joining socialist organisations such as vara and the Labour Party (pvda) as well as the Dutch Humanist Association. In the United States, it was not until 1954 that racial segregation in schools was banned, and African Americans had to wait until 1964 before obtaining full civil rights. South Africa had just introduced apartheid. Homosexuality was (until 1990) still considered to be an illness according to the official classification of the World Health Organisation. The sexual revolution, student uprisings and secularisation were still several years off.

The Dutch Old Age Insurance Law (aow) was still a novelty in 1957. The Dutch national vaccination programme against widely feared common diseases such as smallpox, tuberculosis and polio

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A new narrative

began in 1957. Europe accounted for around 20% of the world’s population of only 2.5 billion. It was the time of the Cold War and arms race. In the United States, McCarthy obsessively hunted down alleged communists, while Eastern Europe was brought under the Soviet yoke, heralding four decades of dictatorship.

The Warsaw Pact was founded in 1955 to counteract nato.

Travelling from the Netherlands to Belgium still required a visa, with extensive passport controls at the border. The Berlin Wall was still to be built – and torn down. Many Western European countries still had colonies without thinking anything of it.

Of today’s leaders, only Mario Monti and Dany Cohn-Bendit, teenagers at the time, consciously witnessed the launch of European integration. Merkel, Sarkozy, Hollande and Verhofstadt had only just been potty-trained in 1957. Donald Tusk was a month old, while Vladimir Putin was attending his first kinder­garten. The parents of Barack Obama and those of David Cameron hadn’t even started dating.

In the Netherlands, the Slochteren gas field had not yet been discovered, and two out of three people worked in agriculture or industry. The standard of living was low, but there was work and things got better for everybody as post-war reconstruction progressed.

This is how the world looked when European integration was launched. Since 1957, the world has changed unrecognisably.

Nothing remained the same. Or something did: … The way in which we run the European Union has remained virtually unchanged over all of these years. The institutions which were set up in the 1950s still function more or less as they did back then.

The European Commission recently held its 2,000th meeting.

The world of 1957

11

The eu is still run as a project of stately diplomats who negotiate on behalf of a a handful of fairly homogeneous nation states about neatly arranged subjects such as coal and steel and agricultural policy. A handful of dignitaries still take decisions behind closed doors. The official photos of 2012 do not look that different from those of 1957: many men in grey three-piece suits (the proportion of women has barely increased since 1957).

The only significant change is that the European Parliament is now directly elected. It is a Parliament which has developed in more than thirty years from being an advisory body in the margins to a political arena in which even government leaders make their appearance.

In 2012 Europe is still run according to the same methods as in 1957 ■

‘ In 2012 Europe is still run according to the same methods as in 1957’

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A new narrative

The world of 2012 Chapter 2

The world of 2012

13

Information and communications revolution The world of today is fundamentally changing and at a dizzying pace. Technological progress is leading to a profound and irreversible shift in social, economic and administrative relations. We can safely call it an information and communications revolution, comparable in scale to the industrial revolution. Just like the industrial revolution, the information and communications revolution is not only providing us with new technological resources but is also radically and irreversibly changing the way in which our society is organised. Political power and economic resources are now within reach of entirely new groups.

The industrial revolution led in the 19th century to an unparalleled increase in prosperity, population growth, rising life expectancy and a pronounced trend towards urbanisation. The industrialised countries offered a high standard of living for broad sections of the population. The organisation of labour and management was radically turned on its head. Trade unions emerged in the wake of mechanised mass production. The middle classes and economic elite irreversibly took over from the previous aristocratic rulers.

In the same period the nation state came into being, with a central authority, unitary language, army and uniform school system. Old local traditions were suppressed with a heavy hand. But today’s parliamentary democracy and constitutions also stem from this period, as do the familiar political ideologies. The administrative order was adapted to the requirements of the new age.

But not everybody was a winner in the industrial revolution either. There was fear and resistance to the new times, for example by the Luddites (today we would call them ‘technophobes’), who protested against the mechanisation of weaving which

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A new narrative

was to put craftsmen out of a job. The industrial revolution also brought new challenges, such as in the areas of the environment, health and social conditions.

‘ The information and communications revolution of today brings about changes as radical as the industrial revolution did’ ‘The information and communications revolution of today brings about changes as radical as the industrial revolution did.’

The use of ict is bringing economic growth within reach for the very poorest. In one fell swoop, a simple mobile telephone gives a cattle farmer in an African desert access to logistics and know­ ledge which were beyond reach so far. Oppressed young people in old dictatorships are using Twitter and mobile phones to shake the old power structures to their foundations. In the same way, citizens are able through a worldwide spontaneous campaign to put a stop to the controversial anti-counterfeiting agreement acta, or to pursue Ugandan war criminal Joseph Kony.

The arrival of the internet has led to linear, hierarchical and static structures to be replaced with loose networks. Instead of chains with many links, people are in direct contact with each other.

Middlemen and intermediaries are becoming superfluous. In the creative industries, films, music and books are no longer distributed via distributors, but the products of artists and authors are supplied directly to the customer. Websites bring buyer and seller directly into contact with each other as on any marketplace. In the financial sector, creditors and debtors find each other on the

The world of 2012

15

internet rather than via a traditional bank, and crowdfunding enables money to be obtained for a collective goal in very little time. The internet has become an arena for worldwide singleissue political campaigns enabling millions of citizens to be mobilised, while the established political parties, civil society organisations and trade unions are losing support. National borders are rapidly fading.

In the internet age, people have direct and virtually real-time access to news from all over the world. The role of the journalist is shifting from the gathering and dissemination of news to investigation and interpretation. With the internet as a source of information and a meeting place, consumers and patients are a new organised power against abuses, independent of official bodies, regulators or interest groups. Open source, crowdsourcing, Wikipedia and scientific platforms are making it possible to share and increase knowledge on a worldwide scale. This gives the old adage ‘knowledge is power’ a completely new dimension.

Information and communications technology gives the authorities more power to monitor citizens. But at the same time, the internet also offers citizens unprecedented opportunities to monitor political and economic power. Countless websites, be they legal, slightly underground or completely illegal, reveal (state) secrets and mercilessly expose abuses. They force the established order to adapt, or they even bring down rulers or media tycoons.

While some still carelessly believe that WikiLeaks, Anonymous or the campaigns against the acta, pipa or sopa are merely transient and marginal phenomena, the German Pirate Party, with its unprecedented election victory, has suddenly become a factor for power within parliament. The Pirate Party looks like

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A new narrative

becoming the first genuine pan-European (and maybe even worldwide) political party. This is not merely a glitch within the existing system but a sign that the system itself is changing.

New technologies are changing the very nature of parliamentary, representative democracy. Citizens are making themselves heard directly via the internet. This suddenly brings the ‘radical democratisation of society’ which the founding fathers of D66 had in mind, very close.

But of course the internet also offers endless new opportunities for people with ill intentions. Cybercriminals, drug traffickers, identity thieves, traders in child pornography, terrorists, fraudsters and other riffraff are demonstrating enormous ingenuity when it comes to exploiting the internet.

All of these upheavals in social, economic and administrative relations are irreversible. The established order is being shaken to its foundations. The old order will never return. And as with any major social change, the fear of and resistance to change is equally great.

Geopolitical changes Alongside the radical changes brought about by technological developments, tectonic shifts are taking place in geopolitical relations. The hegemony of the West has definitely come to an end. The dominance and prosperity of the United States and Europe are no longer self-evident and never will be again. This requires major psychological adjustment. Americans and Europeans are still ahead in the race, but only by a narrow margin, while over their shoulders they can see the sprinters of the new emerging powers catching up. If we do not accelerate our pace, we will end up in the middle bunch or even at the rear. We are no longer automatically setting the pace, and the others will no longer necessarily remain behind us.

The world of 2012

17

‘ The hegemony of the West has definitely come to an end.

The dominance of the United States and Europe is no longer self-evident and never will be again’

Economic relations are quickly shifting. Companies in Europe are being bought up from China, India and South America. The eurozone is dependent on support from the imf and in 2010 even called on China to rescue the euro. Emerging economies are not only demanding their place in the world economy but are also increasingly putting their political mark on global relations.

So far the values and standards of the United States and Europe, whether with regard to human rights, the rule of law and democracy, the environment, social rights or economic models, have been dominant. But the new powers are not only bringing their economic clout to the global negotiating table but also their own models and values.

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A new narrative

Meanwhile, the Arab countries in North Africa and the Middle East are stirring. Partly it is a struggle between factions within the existing system. But there is much more going on. The Arab Spring is also about young generations calling for freedom, control and their rightful share of prosperity.

Changes are also quietly taking place in sub-Saharan Africa.

Large parts of Africa are still plagued by terrible violence, war and poverty. But Africa is not doomed to eternal misery as many Westerners almost automatically assume. There are hopeful signs of economic development, good governance and the emergence of the rule of law. Europe ignores Africa economically and sees it above all as a bottomless pit for development funds.

But China is investing a great deal of money in Africa, albeit with little concern about the rights and interests of the local people.

It is precisely in Africa that new technologies might prove to be an enormous economic stimulus. Many people in Africa are poor, but the continent is enormously wealthy in terms of raw materials and also offers a large untapped labour potential.

‘ But Africa is not doomed to eternal misery as many Westerners almost automatically assume’ The shifting migration flows are a sign of shifting economic relations. A hundred years ago, Europe was a continent of emigration. The poor of Ireland, Greece, Denmark or Friesland moved to America to build a livelihood. Within Europe too, there have always been migration flows, from south to north or, as now, from east to west. In the last half century, Western

The world of 2012

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Europe has itself become a continent of immigration. People have come to Europe from Africa and Asia in search of work.

But the inflow has levelled off and Europeans are increasingly moving to places in the world that offer more opportunities or challenges.

The race for raw materials In 1957, the world population was around 2.5 billion. Europe accounted for well 20% of that figure. In 2011, there were 7 billion citizens in the world, of which 500 million, or around 7%, were eu citizens. Approximately 710 million people live on the European continent. In 2057, the world population will be around 9.5 billion, of which the European Union will account for about 5%. The population of Europe is shrinking in relative terms but also in absolute terms in some areas. At the same time, we are seeing a rapid ageing of the population.

It is clear that 9.5 billion people place a considerably greater burden on our planet than 2.5 billion. The issue of food and water supply will quickly rise on the political agenda in the coming decades. The growing shortage of raw materials is already apparent in rapidly increasing prices. Fossil fuels are running out, while energy demand is growing exponentially given the tripling in the size of global middle class. If we do not act now, a fierce struggle for water, food, energy and raw materials looms. Global competition will lead to new inequalities in the world. Or, in other words, a shift in inequality whereby the Western world will no longer automatically have the best share.

Europe has little in the way of its own fossil fuels such as gas or oil, and we are also dependent on other – often unstable – regions for other raw materials. Many countries, such as China, are already busy securing supplies of raw materials and fossil

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A new narrative

fuels. Even the seabed is gradually being claimed by countries.

Europe is not in a strong position in this competition for raw materials. Only a global shift to new technologies and smart use of raw materials will enable us to guarantee our prosperity and quality of life for future generations. For a continent like Europe with very few raw materials of its own, this is much more important than for other continents. 500 million eu citizens need a strong, united Europe which stands up for their interests.

Moreover, in a knowledge economy, not only are traditional materials an important competitive factor; knowledge is itself also a vital raw material. The ‘battle for brains’ is just as decisive for a nation’s prosperity as the existence of water or fertile land.

Europe must set itself the goal of offering the best level of education and having the most accessible and inclusive education system in the world. In order to secure our prosperity, Europe must become the cleverest continent. We have an enormous advantage: there is general access to education in Europe, and the average standard of education is high. But other parts of the world are catching up, and Europe cannot afford to rest on its laurels.

Europe and the United States are no longer the only and most attractive destinations for brains and labour. Asia, and above all China, has for a number of years been a popular destination for ambitious, highly educated young people and entrepreneurs.

Now that the us and European economies are stalling, more and more of our best and brightest are also moving to booming Brazil.

Europe must again become attractive to the world’s greatest talent. Knowledge is the only raw material which increases the more we use it. Free movement of knowledge must become the fifth freedom in the European single market. The more we break

The world of 2012

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down the boundaries to knowledge, the more of it we will have and the more our prosperity and quality of life will increase ■

‘ Only a global shift to new technologies and smart use of raw materials will enable us to guarantee our prosperity and quality of life for future generations’

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A new narrative

Ready for the new world?

Chapter 3

Ready for the new world?

23

People instinctively feel that the world they have come to trust is rapidly disappearing. The solid certainties of the past are beginning to feel like quicksand. The trusted methods no longer work. In their uncertainty, people are increasingly clutching at the familiar. Nostalgia dominates, but the past does not provide solutions to the issues of today. The Bakelite telephone rings but it cannot connect to the iPhone.

Fear of the new and unfamiliar is getting in the way of creating a good future. Technophobia, xenophobia and europhobia have a crippling effect. Fear of modernity but also, paradoxically, the fear of not having any part in it, is widespread. Populism is the democratic expression of this fear. The terrorists of 9/11 or Anders Breivik in Norway are the violent exponents of a fanatical opposition to the new reality. They want to go back in time literally using force and violence, clinging to an imaginary past and a familiar and trusted order in which they can hold their own.

They are looking for external scapegoats who threaten their certainties: Muslims, Jews, gays, globalisation, neoliberals, climate experts or Europe.

‘ Darwin showed that the winners are those who best adapt to the new times’ But however frightened we are of the changing realities, we cannot stop time or the world. The danger is not in the changing realities but in the inability to adapt to them. Darwin showed us that the winners are those who best adapt to the new times.

After all, new circumstances also offer new opportunities and hope ■

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A new narrative

Back to the drawing board Chapter 4

Back to the drawing board

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Imagine that the European Union did not exist. Imagine that there were no nation states, no capital cities, no borders, no governments and no eu institutions. Imagine that the European continent was a blank canvass which we were able to fill in ourselves. If we had designed Europe in 2012, what would it have looked like? How would we design a Europe enabling 500 million citizens on this continent to live in security, freedom and prosperity? If we had to reinvent Europe, which model would be best suited to Europe in the 21st century?

Model 1957 is squeaking and creaking, and it is high time it was replaced by a more up-to-date system. Just like the iPhone has pushed the Bakelite telephone aside, we in Europe must have a form of governance which is suited to the times. Governance which has the full legitimacy of its citizens. Governance which properly defends the citizens’ interests in today’s world. An iGovernance 3.0. Not one designed by Alexander Graham Bell but by Steve Jobs. Governance with precisely the functions that you the citizens need, that you can shape with practical new apps. Governance that everybody will want to be seen with, a network of communication and joint action by the citizens, a community of people with the same goals.

Throughout history, citizens have repeatedly organised themselves within new structures in order to tackle new social challenges as effectively as possible. When water was a threat, we in the Netherlands created water boards. In a country like the Netherlands, water management was a matter of general interest, an issue for the entire community. Cooperation was literally of vital importance. In a world of globalisation, in which an information and communications revolution and a race for raw materials are taking place, 500 million Europeans have a common interest just as much as the Dutch polder inhabitants

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A new narrative

needed the water boards in their time. The 18th and 19th centuries saw the emergence of the nation state as the best model for the challenges of the industrial society. In the post-war 1950s, international cooperation between nation states emerged.

But these models are no longer adequate for today’s world.

As a mere dot on the world map, the Netherlands cannot compete on its own with emerging powers such as China or Brazil.

If we were to redesign Europe for the same 500 million citizens today, we would not create a continent full of national borders or governance crippled by 27 vetoes. Anybody looking down at today’s world from space would never come up with the idea of dividing Europe up into small pieces.

‘ If the European Union did not exist, we would have to invent it today’ The nation state and sovereignty are not under pressure because a power-hungry Europe is seeking to tighten its grip, as populists would have us believe. The nation state is under pressure simply because of the changing realities. Just like the fight against water forced polder inhabitants to work together, developments in the world around us are forcing us to cooperate in groupings which are completely different to our own trusted nation state. National politics are increasingly irrelevant in a world characterised by globalisation and geopolitical shifts, but also because citizens are organising themselves across borders and are directly having dealings with each other. In the internet age, the jurisdiction and territory of individual countries correspond less and less to the issues we wish to regulate, issues which are little concerned with national borders.

Back to the drawing board

27

Indeed, decision-making power already lies largely outside national politics, but more with ‘Merkozy’, in Washington, with the financial markets or with global data networks. But in elections the citizens are only able to determine their national policy, and have no say regarding the rest. In 2012, real power is invisible and intangible. It is therefore important that we make power explicit and visible and thus more controllable at the same time.

Today’s world needs a strong, decisive, dynamic and democratic Europe. If the European Union did not exist, we would have to invent it today ■

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A new narrative

Legitimacy and solidarity Chapter 5

Legitimacy and solidarity

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A strong Europe cannot exist without a strong legitimacy. Power must directly come from the 500 million European citizens. In the current inter-governmental ‘Model 1957’, the citizens have little say. Today’s European Union is still based on international diplomatic cooperation between national governments. The European Commission and the Council have no direct mandate from the voters.

The Franco-German ‘Merkozy’ duo have in recent years taken decisions affecting Europe without having been elected by European voters and without being accountable to anybody.

‘Merkozy’ cannot be sacked by any parliament. And without European voters ever being asked, power has been transferred from ‘Merkozy’ to ‘Merkollande’.

‘ The Franco-German ‘Merkozy’ duo have taken decisions affecting Europe without having been elected

by European voters and without being accountable to anybody’ The European Parliament is the only EU institution with an elected mandate and is now developing into the political arena of the European Union. But this development is taking time, and the entirely national voting procedures are an obstacle.

The greatest weakness is the fact that Europe is the only level of government at which voters are unable to bring about a change of power. Whether you vote for the extreme left or the extreme right, or for the radical political centre, ‘Merkozy’ ultimately remains in power. One thing is certain: if we had to reinvent the

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A new narrative

European Union, we would never have come up with such an odd construction.

In a democracy, the citizens themselves determine the composition of the government. A European government must therefore also be determined directly by the citizens and not be ‘staggered’ via national politics. Citizens must be able to monitor their representatives, call them to account and, if necessary, vote them out of office. People should be able to organise themselves on a Europe-wide basis around an ideology, single issue or special interests and appoint a representative from their own midst on the basis of European electoral lists.

‘ Citizens must be able to monitor their representatives, call them to account and, if necessary, vote them out of office’ Via the internet, people are able to organise themselves, take decisions and shape the world themselves. These new opportunities are not a threat to democracy but should instead be embraced as something that strengthens it. Of course, democracy means more than domination by the (organised) majority around a special interest. In a democracy, complex assessments are made ensuring that the rights and interests of minorities are protected.

In a democracy, those in power must be accountable. Government by internet poll therefore does not work.

But the internet and networks can serve as a useful platform for citizens to organise themselves, exchange opinions and ideas and

Legitimacy and solidarity

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formulate common positions and demands. They can help to establish actions or shape policy. In the same way that the polder inhabitants worked together around a common concern, internet communities are now emerging around a common interest. The Arab Spring, acta and the Pirate Party are examples of this trend.

A modern eu government must embrace and integrate these new forms of democratic participation â–

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A new narrative

Who are we?

Chapter 6

Who are we?

33

eu governance on the basis of Model 1957 takes the form of cooperation between (the now) 27 governments and their diplomats. But as the European founding father Jean Monnet said, ‘We are bringing together people, not countries.’

A European political union is a community of 500 million citizens. 500 million people who, just like the people living behind the dike, share the collective concern of rising to the common challenge of maintaining and improving our high quality of life in the rapidly changing world of the 21st century.

A community of 500 million people who in the past sometimes stood alongside each other and sometimes opposed each other.

500 million citizens with an enormous wealth of different traditions and culture. But also 500 million people who not only share a past but also a common future. A political union is a community of values.

Community But are we a community? Can we in Europe be a community with so much diversity? Some people believe that European democracy is impossible because there is no European ‘demos’, i.e. no European people or nation, and because (therefore) no European public opinion exists. They claim that the cultural differences are insurmountable and cannot be changed, that identity is almost entirely defined by nationality. Characteristics are attributed to seemingly homogeneous countries. But is that right? Are cultural differences insurmountable and impossible to change?

Can anybody imagine for example that the Irish, Dutch, Frisians, Greeks, Poles, Czechs, Swedes, Italians, Britons, Danes and Spaniards form a nation? That they feel like one community with a common identity? That they are prepared to speak one language and vote for a central government led by the son of an

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A new narrative

African immigrant? Is this impossible? But it already exists.

Not here in Europe, the cradle of all those different nationalities, but in the United States. All those Irish, Dutch, Frisians, Greeks, Poles, Czechs, Swedes, Italians, Britons, Danes and Spaniards cherish their roots and their diversity, but also share a common identity and a common future. If Europeans can do it on the other side of the Atlantic, why not here, on our own continent?

There is of course a reason for that. On our own continent we have for two millennia fought, persecuted and attacked each other. Above all in the bloody twentieth century, we committed atrocities on each other that defy imagination. After two world wars and decades of fascist and communist dictatorship, we had little reason to trust each other and show solidarity. And yet at the time we had the courage and were able to overcome our mistrust of each other and decide to go down the same path together.

We Europeans were then able to think big.

And we still have that ability today. The challenges in today’s and tomorrow’s world are unprecedented and great. But there are also unprecedented new opportunities. Europe must reinvent itself and regain the energy and ambition with which we turned Europe into the freest, most stable and prosperous continent in the world.

Values In the last sixty years, we in Europe have above all cooperated on the basis of common interests. To guarantee peace and freedom, to trade as efficiently as possible and to learn from each other.

Shared interests are important but not in themselves enough to bind a community together. A true community also has shared values. Common values create mutual trust. We have formulated these values as Europeans, translated them into concrete

Who are we?

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‘ Shared interests are important but not in themselves enough to bind a community together. A true community also has shared values’

principles and written extensively about them in important documents: in the successive eu Treaties, in the European Charter of Fundamental Rights, in the European Convention on Human Rights and in countless laws and conventions. We have created an enormous arsenal of bodies to monitor our values and protect our fundamental rights. Regulators, ombudsmen, courts, complaints committees, representatives, councils and commissions and international courts, including the International Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, all monitor our rights.

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A new narrative

But we still do not identify with those values. We did not shape them ourselves. They were not formed on the basis of discussion and confrontation between European citizens but are the result of bureaucratic processes. We take them for granted as a component of our national democracy, but we do not experience them as something we share with Europeans from other Member States.

It is a precondition for creating Europe as a political union that shared values are consciously defined and expressed. The reality of concrete policy forces us to formulate these values in common.

Family law is, for example, part of national policy. But how do we define ‘family’ in European rules on reuniting the families of migrants? Does it mean a man and a woman who are married with children? Or a couple living together in a civil union? Or a gay couple with children? Should European subsidies be used for stem cell research? Should eu subsidies in the area of women’s rights be granted to an anti-abortion campaign? Is a doctor who performs euthanasia in the Netherlands punishable in Italy?

Should Women on Waves, the Dutch abortion ship, operate in Polish waters? How does it sit with freedom of opinion in the internet age that a person can be imprisoned for Holocaust denial in Germany, while freedom of opinion is virtually unlimited in Great Britain? Why are eu countries required to recognise each other’s agricultural products but not a same-sex marriage contracted in another eu country? How can it be that one Member State grants asylum to gay asylum seekers from Iran while others do not?

We are repeatedly called on to define our values in common. In the 1950s, when Europe was just about coal and steel, values were not relevant. But as European cooperation has been extended to other areas, these questions arise more and more often. And that

Who are we?

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is a good thing. Ethical and moral discussions are not easy. Even within a Member State there are major differences in opinion on issues such as gay rights, women’s rights, medical ethics, freedom of opinion, freedom of religion and self-determination.

In the eu, the discussion takes on an extra dimension because we have concluded fine agreements on values and fundamental rights, neatly set out on paper. But when it comes to it, can Europe hold us to these values and fundamental rights? Do they have any practical or legal value to citizens or are they merely political statements? Hungary, for example, violates democratic rules and fundamental rights on a large scale. Premier Orbán claims that Hungary makes its own laws and does not need to be concerned with eu laws. Who will blink first? Orbán or Europe?

If Member States do not comply with these aspects of the European Treaties, how can we trust each other? And what moral authority do we still have in the world if we are not able to enforce the values we have ourselves defined within our own borders? The biggest test for European integration is whether the Charter of Fundamental Rights is binding, just as the Stability and Growth Pact is binding in the eurozone.

These discussions are never one-dimensional and static. There are always shifting majorities and minorities, and public opinion evolves. But it is the fact of discussing these issues together which forges us into a community. Jointly formulated values are the glue which holds us together and the basis for our mutual trust ■

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A new narrative

A narrative for everyone Chapter 7

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The new narrative for Europe is a narrative for everybody. What makes Europe unique in the world is that it is a community based on solidarity. The strongest individuals amongst us can manage on their own, including in the rapid and large world of globalisation. They have the resources and ability to adapt and seize opportunities.

Europe’s strength lies specifically in its togetherness. Recognising that, as a community, we have better chances in the world than we do individually. The Dutch water boards of olden times knew that helping and supporting the weak is vital to good flood control. The quality of society is not measured solely in terms of the success of the strongest but specifically on the chances and support offered to those who are weaker.

‘ Europe’s strength lies specifically in its togetherness. Recognising that, as a community, we have better chances in the world than we do individually’ For the highly and not so highly educated Education and knowledge are increasingly decisive for opportunities and success. Not only on the labour market but also for society as a whole. People today increasingly choose their spouse on the basis of their level of education, while previously position and class were the main criteria. Education and knowledge are crucial to opportunities and social mobility. The difference between rich and poor is growing, and the fault line largely coincides with differences in the level of education. In the new global knowledge

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economy, those with the highest level of education have fantastic new opportunities, while those who are less educated are among the potential losers, with little prospect of improvement.

It is not entirely surprising that all surveys show that it is those with a low level of education who face the changes in the world with great suspicion. It would run counter to the European ideal of solidarity to leave this group out in the cold. Moreover, Europe cannot allow itself to let even one valuable grey cell go to waste. For Europe to be strong, it is essential that we invest in education, education, education.

And this applies not only to the academic elite but every bit as much to disadvantaged groups. In today’s world, international skills and language knowledge are not a luxury but fundamental and vital to being able to participate in the labour market.

Information and communications technology offer unprecedented opportunities for sharing, disseminating and increasing knowledge. Large groups of people have unprecedented new opportunities to strengthen and improve their place in society.

‘ Europe is the best continent in the world in which to grow old. But Europe must also be the best place for young people’ For young and old The European narrative is also one for all generations. Europe is ageing. Europe is the best continent in the world in which to grow old. But Europe must also be the best place for young

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people. Young people have the feeling – often justifiably – that previous generations have used everything up. They grew up in a period of prosperity but find it difficult or impossible to enter the labour market, see their pension disappearing over the horizon, are unable to find housing, see prices for energy and raw materials rising and find that care is increasingly reserved for the well-off. The generations before them occupy the positions in which decisions are taken, but the older generations are slow to move towards implementing reforms. In the debt crisis, it looks as though young people will end up paying the price of the profligacy of older generations.

A strong Europe is no universal panacea but it is a precondition for a healthy and sound economy. A strong Europe with open borders is essential to maintaining prosperity for the future, creating jobs, establishing a solid economic basis for our pensions and social security systems and finding sustainable solutions to the issues of energy and raw materials. Europe has enough good ideas to become the most dynamic, sustainable and innovative knowledge economy in the world, as agreed in the eu2020 strategy. But we are hesitating to put them into effect. Vested interests and fear of change are getting in the way even though, with those plans, we can also guarantee the very best quality of life for the young people of both today and tomorrow.

For all ethnic groups and cultures The European narrative is also a narrative for everybody living in the European Union. Europe was long a point of departure for emigrants to other parts of the world where they hoped to create a better livelihood. From this melting pot, the United States forged a dynamic and resilient society and economy and a strong sense of community. But Europe has itself become a destination for migrants from other parts of the world. The

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make-up of the European population is more diverse than it was in the 1950s. In times of economic uncertainty, that always gives rise to resistance. But a Fortress Europe has no future; it is a dead end street. Instead Europe must promote a strong European sense of community of which newcomers can quickly become part. In the coming decades we must work on making Europe a community of citizens and develop our collective identity. By dint of its rich cultural diversity, Europe is entirely in a position to take in newcomers. The large number of different cultures is a source of prosperity, while nationalism merely divides.

‘ Europe is not a loose form of cooperation between states based on random interests or which can be easily given up at any time’ For all Europeans The new story is also a story for Europeans who have not yet been let in. In a strong continent, there should not be any blank spaces on the map. Continued enlargement will make Europe stronger both internally and externally. The membership criteria are not designed to keep other Europeans out but to help them enter under the best possible conditions.

Speculation about Member States leaving the eurozone or eu are frivolous and deny the central element of European unification.

Europe is not a loose form of cooperation between states based on random interests or which can be easily given up at any time.

The goal of European unification was one of irreversible interdependence aimed at creating a situation in which the interests

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of others also become our interests. European integration is not without obligations. Only a strong political union, a community of citizens which support each other through thick and thin, can survive in the turbulent world of the 21st century.

This narrative is also for the hundreds of million Europeans, with their numerous nationalities, their hundreds of languages and dialects, with their religions and beliefs, with their traditions, their history, their culture and the colour of their skin.

For all Europeans with their friends, relatives, loved ones and families, whatever form they take. It is a narrative for both young and old, for newcomers and for those whose families have been in Europe for generations, for world citizens and for ordinary people. For entrepreneurs, artists, farmers, scientists, inventors and adventurers. For computer whiz kids, hairdressers, mechanics, teachers, sportspeople, film makers, students and insurance agents. For wage slaves, self-employed, flexible contract workers and freelancers.

Europe that’s us â–

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Model 2057 Chapter 8

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In the aftermath of the two world wars, the founding fathers of European integration had a great vision and political courage.

They realised that Europe would only be able to have a future of freedom, peace and prosperity on the basis of interdependence. Later, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, a new generation of European leaders had the same vision and courage and set out to heal the divided continent. Now it is time for the new generation of political leaders to take over. It is up to us to lay the foundations for the Europe of our children and grandchildren.

The world does not have a pause button; we cannot dwell in the 1950s. We now have a unique opportunity to reform Europe and to go back to the drawing board. We must create a new form of governance for Europe for the 21st century. No more the oldfashioned diplomatic appointees that we see in the black and white photos of the 1950s, but rather a government that reflects the will of European voters on the basis of election results. A government with a directly elected leader and fully fledged ministers.

‘ We now have a unique opportunity to reform Europe and to go back to the drawing board’ The future European Minister of Foreign Affairs will represent us outside the borders of Europe and will lead the peace process in the Middle East and negotiations with Iran.

The Minister of International Trade will sit on Europe’s behalf in the wto, and Europe will have a very loud voice in the G6 – the successor to the G8 because the national seats of Europe will have been merged into one and Africa will have its own seat.

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The European Minister for Economic Affairs will ensure that Europe receives the investment it needs to become world innovation leader. The European Secretary of State for Social Affairs will monitor the rights of European workers throughout Europe.

The European Minister of Justice will join forces with the European Police Corps and the European Public Prosecutor in combating serious cross-border crime so that drug and human traffickers and cybercriminals do not have a chance.

The European Minister of Fundamental Rights will be able to take a firm stand against homophobia, ageism, curbs on press freedom or racist violence.

The European Finance Minister will manage the European budget with a firm hand. The Member States’ contributions will have been abolished and replaced with direct contributions from the citizens. Citizens will be able to indicate what their priorities are in terms of spending.

Under the coordination of the European Secretary of State of Education, national ministers will work in unison to make European education the best and most accessible in the world.

The Minister of Energy will ensure that, in just a few decades, all of Europe is using only clean power, thus generating hundreds of thousands of new jobs.

Under the guidance of the European Minister of Public Health and Care, scientists from all over Europe will work together to ensure that we live a long and healthy life. With free movement of healthcare providers in Europe, we will find new and clever ways of giving people good personal care in their own environment.

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The European Parliament, elected on the basis of pan-European lists, will monitor the government, call it to account and, if necessary, dismiss individual European ministers. The citizen will be able to consult all documents on the internet and will be able via the internet to contribute to and shape policy on all important European matters in his own language. Citizens will be able to call ministers directly to account in public hearings using webstreaming and chat functions. Major decisions will be put to all European citizens in a European referendum.

‘ Our freedom and prosperity are the result of the dreams of a few visionary Europeans in the 1950s’ Dreams? Castles in the air? Utopia? Maybe. But our freedom and prosperity are the result of the dreams of a few visionary Europeans in the 1950s. If we now dare to dream, if we now dare to have a vision, then the future belongs to us. This is the narrative of our future ■

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text Sophie in ’t Veld editor Yvonne Doorduyn layout de ontwerpvloot printing Ando bv

Š June 2012 with the support of the European Parliament

A new story

In the current crisis, it sounds almost ridiculous to be optimistic. And yet we have every reason to be.

It is said that under pressure, everything becomes fluid.

And whatever is fluid can take on a new form.

Never before have we had such a good opportunity to reshape Europe.