Crisis may cement pan-European identity

Immanuel Kant argued 200 years ago that being a citizen of two realms was described by the words “cosmos” and “polis.” When plainly translated from the ancient Greek, it just means a “citizen of the world.” Ironically, it is the Greek economic tragedy that has become the impetus to reinforce Europeanisation and its future possibilities. The concept of ‘cosmopolitanism', a powerful bequest from ancient Greek times, is gaining significance in European minds.

It was especially so in the time of Macedonian and Roman dominion, when the city-states lost their sovereignty and importance. Citizens began to feel they were no longer attached to a ‘polis', but a bigger entity, the world. In other words, European cosmopolitanism is a growing sentiment, which subordinates the interests of fractional states and individuals to the common good of Europe, as a whole. It is now crystal clear to me that if there is any way that the EU and the Euro Zone are to get out of the present financial mess in one piece, it will not only mean a much tighter bringing together of fiscal policy, but a monumental rethink of the EU set-up. This is about to happen.

As Jeremy Rifkin so aptly pointed out in his book, The European Dream , the European experiment is designed to create a stable conglomerate of nations that can ensure a peaceful coexistence of these nations, while respecting national identities and interests as much as possible. This, precisely, is the test that Europe seems to be facing at the moment. If the European model works, it could be the prototype for a new concept of a “global society”.

As an outsider — an Indian looking at Europe, I can say that European solidarity continues to work, and is supported by its citizens. I also see — though not all, but in most of the 27 member states — societies, in which solidarity, non-discrimination, tolerance, pluralism, justice, responsibility and gender equality reign; they share these values.

What I like most about Europe doesn't really have to do with economics or the politics of the nation state, but the way in which the Europeans feel and think. They are tranquil, stress-free and least distracted by events around them. And the European living atmosphere in its cities, towns and its suburbs continues to be people-friendly.

A NEW SENSE OF PATRIOTISM

Today, I see Europeans are carefully soul-searching for an idea: What should the Europe of the future look like? Could a federation of European nations function?

How could a working government in Brussels be structured? And could a continent-wide democracy foster unity and solidarity among European nations?

What seems clear is that as the Euro crisis has divided the continent into winners and losers; European citizens are in the midst of a renewed sense of ‘European' patriotism, based on their shared political values — keeping aside the shared ethnic identity or language. Europeans want the EU to become a full political union.

The president of the London-based Centre for Economic Policy Research, Guillermo de la Dehesa, says that if the Europeans don't manage to join forces in a federation by the middle of the century, Europe will “fail.”

If that happens, he says, India and China will dominate the global economy. And his research postulates that not a single European country will then be a member of the G-8.

EUROPEAN INTERESTS FIRST

There is growing consensus in the continent that only a united Europe, with lawmakers in Brussels with the power to take policy decisions, can avert the next crisis, offset the economic and social imbalances within the EU, and counteract opportunist speculators in the financial markets.

Europeans would now like to see the straight election of a European president, who would be armed with political power.

This, they believe, will lead to a much stronger Europe. Paradoxically, even the Basques and Catalans, who have their own culture and language, which they promote, and who are pressing for extensive autonomy from Spain, support political consolidation in the direction of a European federation.

It seems that the idea of a United States of Europe has taken hold in Brussels discussion groups, and it enjoys powerful support in the European Parliament. Many Europeans see the present crisis as an opportunity to dynamically evolve and make this idea into reality.

As the old Greek saying goes, “Crises are opportunities that often are the beginning of great enterprises”.

In spite of everything that Greece did to shake up Europe's confidence, it seems to me that it is this Greek spirit, as propounded by Demosthenes, the Greek author and politician in Athens of 350 BC, that is about to lay the foundations of a stronger Europe.

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