IEP Lunch Debate with Elmar Brok: “Europe at the crossroads: solidarity and effective transformation towards new horizons”
At the IEP lunch debate on 26 April 2012, Elmar Brok, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament, spoke on the internal and external challenges of Europe’s future. Brok focussed in particular on Europe’s responsibility to formulate financial and political strategies perpetuating Europe’s stability. In the context of the debt crisis, he appealed for more solidarity to be incorporated into European solution strategies, defined by two key factors:
First, Europe must not withdraw from its responsibility to spread and grow common European goals. Consistency in European domestic affairs is needed now more than ever, particularly in light of the recent emergence of several nationalist parties across the continent. In the first round of the presidential elections in France, the right-wing extremist candidate Marine Le Pen achieved the best ever result for a Font National (FN) presidential candidate, gaining 18.5 percent of the vote. Similar developments have been observed in Ireland. The Irish Republican party Sinn Féin enjoyed the support of 30 percent of those questioned in a recent opinion poll. Germany seems to have avoided this plague, however. No German nationalist parties gained enough to influence the forming of a majority. Despite these alarming developments, Europe must maintain a strong sense of political responsibility. Europe’s greatest duty is to remain stable.
Second, transparency of political decision-making must improve. So far, solutions have only built upon the idea that “Europe has to save money”. Instead, the Fiscal Pact must be completed with further, more complex elements. This package will consist of several individual components. First, in structural policy, growth-oriented projects must be supported financially, and cannot fall victim to austerity measures. By improving the infrastructure and the educational system, these projects should be able to exist sustainably. These projects, moreover, must be implemented pragmatically and efficiently. It does not make much sense for the European Commission to submit a long-term reform plan for the growth within the Single European Market in May 2012 at a time when Europe does not need general programmes with outcomes measurable only after decades of implementation. It is more important to foster specific projects, which would make a positive psychological impact on the economic development. Maintaining the balance between economy and democratic power is, therefore, Europe’s greatest challenge. While it was important to maintain the stability criteria in the last decade, investments in education, infrastructure and trade must take precedent as Europe moves forward.
European foreign policy must take similar steps, explained Brok. Globally speaking, the European Union and other Western powers consistently endure skepticism regarding their intentions in foreign policy. Common solutions must be developed, particularly in reaction to the Arab Spring and the lost wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. First and foremost, Europe must stand for its values in these matters.
Brok concluded by presenting three scenarios for Europe’s future. In the first scenario, Europe ignores problems and challenges, leaving them unsolved. The second scenario, on the other hand, describes a withdrawal of member states in favor of nationalist politics and, therefore, a withdrawal from inevitable global developments. Brok concluded by describing his third and preferred scenario imagining a Europe united by the rediscovery of its power to overcome a crisis.
