EurHope | towards a movement of “European Natives”

EurHope

Inaugural LectureAlessandro Fusacchia

Santa Chiara Millennials’ LabSiena, 13-18 May 2016

Part I

The rise and fall of the European Union

(1992 – 2016)

The rise and fall of the European Union

12 years 12 years

Part 2

The progressive stalemateof the European Union

goals of European integration

at the beginning and for the first few decades

increasingly since the '90s

peace & security France & Germany: no more at war

terrorism & failing states

economic prosperity establishment of the Single Market

international agreements on trade, environment, etc.

solidarity cohesion/regional policy - structural funds

migration flows / refugees

freedom four freedoms data/privacy with the US / developments in Turkey

The progressive stalemate of the EU

INSIDE the EU OUTSIDE the EU

Over the last 25 years, the progressive stalemate of the European Union has been mainly

due to the inability to adapt governance and tools from inward- to outward-looking.

Why unable?

The Community Method

● Policy driven (competences referring to Treaties) + role of the ECJ

● Regulatory powers but limited budget

● Governance rather than government

(“everybody is involved, nobody is responsible”)

● EU inclined to constitutionalise everything (e.g. 3% deficit/GDP)

● Over time, evolution towards re-nationalisation: rise of EU Council

● EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: allegiances of MEPs are often more

national than partisan; there is no government to give a confidence

vote & Parliament cannot be dissolved before the term;

(“no taxation without representation”)

Commission proposes legislation

Parliament + Council jointly adopt it

European Council

Commission

Parliament Council

The original mechanics has long been useful to incrementally expand (and deepen) the policy areas of EU intervention, but has proven eventually unfit to transform the EU into a democracy-as-we-know-it

The current stalemate

● Europe is not equipped with tools to confront the rest of the world and thus fully pursue its original goals

● The original method has exhausted its spillover effect and thus its capacity to incrementally and “automatically” integrate EU further

● New common and relevant policies are unlikely to be consensual and would require politics, whereas European integration entails to reduce (ideally neutralize/nullify) the role of politics

● We are not equipped (i.e. we have no institutions, strategies, tools) to jointly face new threats or crisis

● Populism is spreading quickly across Europe

mass mobilisation, polarisation, dynamics government/opposition, etc

from the Euro and increasing rates of unemployment to massive inflows of

immigrants and refugees

Part 3

Grains of hope

Erasmus

● Its budget of € 3.1 billion for the period 2007-13 provided opportunities to study, train, gain experience abroad.

● Overall, by the end of the academic year 2013-14, the Erasmus programme had supported 3.3 million Erasmus students and 470,000 staff since its launch 27 years ago.

● Top five organising countries: IT, NL, DE, FR, BE.

● More than 350 000 academic and administrative staff received support from Erasmus to teach or train abroad.

Low Cost

- Transport

A 37% increase in numbers year on year from July 2014 to June 2015, with continuing growth expected: 306 million passengers. European Low Fares Airline Companies have 90,172 employees and 1,353 aircrafts.

- Communication

As of the end of April, roaming fees across Europe have dropped dramatically. In addition, the European Commission will scrap roaming data charges in its 28 member countries entirely from June 2017.

The European Public Sphere

- Nothing to do with the Brussels bubble, but with newspapers and TV news of different countries opening same day on same topic:

Greece Terrorism Migrants

Grains in the Treaties

● European initiative: 1M citizens can ask for legislation in a field ○ An invitation to the European Commission to propose legislation on matters

where the EU has competence to legislate ○ A citizens’ initiative has to be backed by at least one million EU citizens, coming

from at least 7 out of the 28 member states.

● European citizenship (since Maastricht)○ European citizenship was given legal status in 1992, granting all citizens of EU

member states a secondary citizenship at the supranational level○ It affords rights such as the right to vote in European elections, the right to free

movement, settlement and employment across the EU…

Both unused. Both with high potential.

Part 4

Your turn begins tonight

We are institutionally stuck. No Treaty reform will change this.

A movement of “European Natives”

● feeling at home everywhere in Europe

● aware of their being “European citizens”

● convinced that they can be the most powerful response to widespread populism across Europe

● committed to aggregate and mobilise other citizens and communities across different countries, further develop integration

● determined to work on this agenda for – at least – the next 12 years

A movement of “European Natives”?Where is such

12 years

Europe raises again

12 years 12 years

GooD LuCk!

alessandro.fusacchia@istruzione.it@Fusacchia #SIYlab

Santa Chiara Millennials’ LabSiena, 13-18 May 2016 aa