According to the words of the European Commission’s Vice- President, Margot Wallstrom, we shall not. In her message for the Europe Day (May 9) the EU is conceived as an institution that “doesn’t do passion” and this feature is presented to be a success. There can be no doubt, that currently the majority of the European citizens have neutral emotions towards the EU. What we do doubt is that the EU can exist as a strong entity without invoking positive emotions among its citizens.
It is widely known that the EU technocrats approach their tasks in a bureaucratic, almost beyond-politics manner. For the EU is a child of modernity and the neo-liberal consensus of the last decades, views politics in their rational dimension and ignores their affective aspects. But, as has been shown during the course of the time to the 21st century, politics do include affective aspects. They are still conditioned by “love and hate” (or for those who prefer by the “Eros and Death” twins). Moreover, the emotional factors play a major role in the formation of any political entity and the bonds connecting its constituents members. It is these factors that create a collective identity which ties each member to the whole and ensures his or her support to the community.
Until now the European Union has failed to generate such an identity. The bureaucratic nature of its administration combined with the democratic deficit that characterizes its politics, make people feel that the EU is not relevant to them and their everyday lives. However, if the European countries are to carry their cooperation further, sooner or later they will have to invest in a common identity.
Rational arguments were strong enough to keep European cooperation going during the prosperous post-war era, and to carry it through the various economic crises that took place during this period. But back then, the size of the Union and the range of its politics were still restricted. In the 27 member EU, the divergences between in national interests and culture are increased manifold; it will continuously be harder to come up with policies that satisfy the citizens of all member states at the same time. Furthermore, nowadays the EU dictates a wide range of the member states’ the national politics. Its jurisdiction is not restricted to the ordinary, “boring things” of the past, and with policies extending from market regulation to health and educational issues, it influences important aspects of people’s daily lives. Margaret Walstrom, asserted that people treat the EU “like the insulation of their house”, i.e. they care for it, but they do not constantly think about it. We think this is not entirely true. Because of the extended jurisdiction and responsibilities the EU is assuming, people are becoming aware of it. And they need to be involved and identify with the Union, in order for such far reaching policies to gain support and for consensus among so many states to be possible.
The EU already evokes emotive reactions. Like Wallstrom puts it, “A tiny minority detests it”. The extreme left and the extreme right condemn it for being a cruel, capitalistic instrument. Even worse, to them, membership in it implies a devastating loss of national sovereignty. This kind of perspective includes a highly emotional substratum and cannot be confronted with pure economic jargon. People need to feel that they are part of the EU and that the European vision regards them as real people, with real needs. In an economic crisis, societies are polarized and radicalized and the mainstream is weakened. This could very well lead to disintegration – and we should all be well aware that Europe has been through that on numerous occasions in its long history.
To be sure, we are far from seeing dictators back in power; and we will probably get through the current financial crisis, without a major political crisis such as the one described above. But we never know when an a number of factors can converge to create a severe crisis which could jeopardise the coherence of the EU. There are many within the most powerful states of the Union wondering about how long will richer countries with sound economies continue to drag along those lacking behind. An intensified crisis could very well lead member-states to put their national interest above all other considerations, and only few europeans would be disposed to make sacrifices for the distant and and ”subsidiary” EU.
Due to its history and experience, Europe can be a sober power for peace, economic growth, and political development. The EU is a fundamentally collective entity, drawing strength from cooperation among the member states. Thus the EU shall wave a flag inviting its people to identify with it and ensuring its coherence.
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