My response to Valentina Miorandi's work will be perhaps recorded as somewhat unorthodox. Valentina's work encourages us to reflect on the economic challenges facing the EU today, on the tragic consequences of austerity policies in a number of European countries, on the rising inequality that can be observed across the continent and on the seemingly inadequate response coming from both EU government and EU institutions. I could write at some length about the current economic crisis and the merits and shortfalls of austerity policies, but I will leave that discussion to those that are more qualified in the subject matter and that can make genuine and concrete contributions. For my part, I would like – also as the first contributor to the Star Track project – to address the most fundamental and existential problem facing the EU today, and that is the lack of a unifying and compelling narrative in support of the European project. These days, I'm spending an awful lot of time reflecting on the state of the EU. I'm also - as a British citizen - and as a European (I do have Italian nationality also) with very strong links on both sides of the channel, disappointed at David Cameron (the British Prime Minister) for framing the debate on Britain's place in the EU in as narrow a fashion as a simple question of yes and no. At the same time, it is clear to me, that something needs to be done. The EU is in the middle of a crisis that it has not seen for many decades and that crisis is not simply economic and institutional, it is also cultural and existential. As a political and institutional process, the EEC and the EU after it, were conceived primarily as elitist projects to be driven and pushed forward by an army of highly qualified bureaucrats in darkened rooms in a distant corner of Europe known as Brussels. The EU as an institution was conceived to be remote from its citizens and it was structured in a way such as to be as insulated as possible from political meddling, and in particular, popular interference. And this was for good reason. Europe had a pretty painful few years of experimenting with popular participation in public life and populist politicians. The two most notable examples of these were fascism (of the Italo-Iberic kind) and National Socialism. Together with other (semi-populist forms) of authoritarianism, these were responsible for the deaths and suffering of hundreds of millions of people during the first half of the 20th Century. The EU was created, as a project, as a complex web of interlocked legal and political obligations that would tie governments, states and politicians to the negotiating table and keep them away from tanks and battle ships. It was also conceived of as an 'elitist' project to be insulated, as much as possible from direct popular interference. This concept, however, still had to be sold to the European people - after all the EU is a conglomerate of democratic countries - and for a good part of 60 years, the main argument that was used to sell the EU to Europeans was that the EU was the institution responsible for guaranteeing peace in a continent that, until a few years before, was torn by the most brutal wars humanity had ever seen. As the memories of the Second World War receded and the common market expanded, a second, additional argument was added, the EU became co-author of the European economic miracle of the 60s, 70s and 80s. There are three generations of Europeans that saw their standards of living improve, regularly decade after decade. Š Alessandro Fazio
So, in short, a peaceful Europe and rising economic prosperity are what have guaranteed to the European project the popular consensus and support that has sustained it until today. But circumstances have changed. For newer generations, for whom the war is an ever more distant memory, peace in Europe is a given that has not ever, in their lifetime, been questioned. Try and think of how many young people even remember the war in Yugoslavia. I can assure you, it is very few. And that was many years after 1945. For newer generations, improving standards of living, and a life better than what their parents had, is a mirage that they cannot relate to either. In fact, rising standards of living are an unsustainable dream even for slightly older Europeans. The getting ever better curve has come to a stop for all Europeans. And with security threats ever more remote on a distant horizon and increased economic prosperity no longer an unquestionable expectation for the future, the popular consensus behind the EU is unraveling. This is the reality that so many refuse to see. It's not only the British. Talk to anyone. From Italy to Greece, from Finland to Poland people tell you the same thing when they hear about the EU: 'I've heard this story before'. And that is the problem. The EU institutions and EU politicians have lost track of the narrative. The story they sell is old, and stale, and boring. People no longer feel inspired when they hear it, people no longer believe it. How do I know? There's no meaningful trace of the powers of European integration in popular talk or popular culture. First of all European unity does not really figure in popular culture today, second, when it does, it is with negative connotations. The fact of the matter is that the EU has grown. It is now an adult. The story of father Xmas is suitable for a child of 6. By the time the child gets to twelve you need to switch to Roald Dahl. Once the child reaches 21, he will demand "Lady Chatterley's lover". By the age of 30, the reader needs Shakespeare. Yesterday, I spent three hours locked in a meeting with a very successful (we're talking 100s of Millions of USD) Belgian entrepreneurs that moved to Sylicon valley 20 years ago. In front of him were myself and a group of Commission officials staring at him with disinterested and quite indifferent faces. The commission officials talked at length about this initiative, that policy priority, this synergy, this competitiveness council, this and that white paper. Boring, grey and spent. Across from them, was a guy who told a story of a life of discovery, adventure and of pursuing a dream. He was honest, he was inspirational, he was real. And at the end of his exposè he had the room captured. In one hour and a half he did not once talk about numbers, he did not once talk about sales, he need not once talk about needed investment, he did not once talk about growth. He told a story. And when he came to the numbers, the prices, the technology, the whole room swallowed it hook, line and sinker. Because the story was that good. Š Alessandro Fazio
So, to conclude going back to David Cameron. We're at the point we're at because none of us is telling the story right. We need to think a new story and we need to find again some inspirational people capable of telling it and of making people believe it.
Š Alessandro Fazio