Why It Is Essential to Still Believe in Europe

"There are two categories of small countries in Europe, the small countries and those who do not know they are small," noted former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta. In the age of Trump and Xi Jinping, of global warming and migration challenges, not to mention the fight against terrorism, Europe can only exist in the world if it is united. If we are optimistic, we can assume that a majority of Europeans are slowly becoming aware of this reality.

Nothing is written, but everything is accelerating

The problem is that this first challenge, of a geopolitical nature, is as if suspended by a second challenge, of an internal nature. Europe can be perceived, especially by the British, as a classic alliance based on common interests. Others would say it is primarily a "Union of values". In this respect, there are now two sides in Europe. Proponents of classical liberal democracy pay the price for the blindness of their elites leading to the excesses of capitalism, if not those of democratic processes, in the age of globalization. The other side, from the far right to the far left, is driven by a desire to transform the Union from the inside, which poorly hides its plan to destroy it.

It is the simultaneity over time of these two challenges, external and internal, that makes the situation we are facing so worrying, but so fascinating as well. History (with a capital H) hesitates before us and can go in either direction: the restart or the final break-up of the European project. Nothing is written, but everything is accelerating.
 

In reality, there is nothing really remarkable in the new treaty signed by France and Germany. But its positive impact is not just symbolic. Germany committed to making further efforts in the field of security and defence. To understand the German reluctance in this area, it is necessary to consider a historical and psychological reality. It is not that Germany is losing interest in the world, nor that it does not want to compromise its economic growth through security and defence efforts. This second dimension undeniably plays a part but becomes irresponsible as soon as it is imprudent to rely exclusively on the United States. The fact is that Germany is above all afraid of itself. What if it regained a taste for power, in the most classic sense of the word - a passion and a talent that led her to her downfall yesterday?

As well as being a response to external challenges, the Franco-German couple is a response to challenges coming from within Europe. It is far too early to make any predictions on the outcome of the European elections in May. But it is not unreasonable to be cautiously optimistic. Between the German Greens and the French centrists behind President Macron's party, the "party of reason", that of the pro-Europeans, is far from having lost the game. At worst, populists will have around 160 seats in the next European Parliament. That's a lot, but it's not a landslide victory. The European project is not dead. He lives and still resonates.
 

With the permission of Les Echos (published 28/01/19).