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Bürgerfest in Berlin
by Craig Rowley
Leaders of the European Union gathered in Berlin last weekend for a grand birthday feast celebrating half a century of European integration.
To mark the occasion, they have revealed The Berlin Declaration, signed by Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel as President of the European Council, President of the European Parliament Hans-Gert Pöttering and President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso.
The Berlin Declaration
For centuries Europe has been an idea, holding out hope of peace and understanding. That hope has been fulfilled. European unification has made peace and prosperity possible. It has brought about a sense of community and overcome differences. Each Member State has helped to unite Europe and to strengthen democracy and the rule of law. Thanks to the yearning for freedom of the peoples of Central and Eastern Europe the unnatural division of Europe is now consigned to the past. European integration shows that we have learnt the painful lessons of a history marked by bloody conflict. Today we live together as was never possible before.
We, the citizens of the European Union, have united for the better.
I.
In the European Union, we are turning our common ideals into reality: for us, the individual is paramount. His dignity is inviolable. His rights are inalienable. Women and men enjoy equal rights.
We are striving for peace and freedom, for democracy and the rule of law, for mutual respect and shared responsibility, for prosperity and security, for tolerance and participation, for justice and solidarity.
We have a unique way of living and working together in the European Union. This is expressed through the democratic interaction of the Member States and the European institutions. The European Union is founded on equal rights and mutually supportive cooperation. This enables us to strike a fair balance between Member States' interests.
We preserve in the European Union the identities and diverse traditions of its Member States. We are enriched by open borders and a lively variety of languages, cultures and regions. There are many goals which we cannot achieve on our own, but only in concert. Tasks are shared between the European Union, the Member States and their regions and local authorities.
II.
We are facing major challenges which do not stop at national borders. The European Union is our response to these challenges. Only together can we continue to preserve our ideal of European society in future for the good of all European Union citizens. This European model combines economic success and social responsibility. The common market and the euro make us strong. We can thus shape the increasing interdependence of the global economy and ever-growing competition on international markets according to our values. Europe's wealth lies in the knowledge and ability of its people; that is the key to growth, employment and social cohesion.
We will fight terrorism, organised crime and illegal immigration together. We stand up for liberties and civil rights also in the struggle against those who oppose them. Racism and xenophobia must never again be given any rein.
We are committed to the peaceful resolution of conflicts in the world and to ensuring that people do not become victims of war, terrorism and violence. The European Union wants to promote freedom and development in the world. We want to drive back poverty, hunger and disease. We want to continue to take a leading role in that fight.
We intend jointly to lead the way in energy policy and climate protection and make our contribution to averting the global threat of climate change.
III.
The European Union will continue to thrive both on openness and on the will of its Member States to consolidate the Union's internal development. The European Union will continue to promote democracy, stability and prosperity beyond its borders.
With European unification a dream of earlier generations has become a reality. Our history reminds us that we must protect this for the good of future generations. For that reason we must always renew the political shape of Europe in keeping with the times. That is why today, 50 years after the signing of the Treaties of Rome, we are united in our aim of placing the European Union on a renewed common basis before the European Parliament elections in 2009.
For we know, Europe is our common future.
It is true that Europe has accomplished much over the past 50 years – political and economic achievements far beyond the wildest dreams of those at the very beginning of European integration designing the European Economic Community. However while some celebrate, many seem mainly in the mood to commiserate - and a few see reason to demonstrate.
Ten thousand citizens of various European nations concerned about globalisation were set to "shape the increasing interdependence of the global economy and ever-growing competition" by demonstrating in the German capital today. They were to "stand up for liberties and civil rights" togther and "in concert" they came from Alexanderplatz in the former East Berlin toward the city’s best-known monument and be part of the big night. They found much of the city centre was closed to vehicle and pedestrian traffic, obviously to ensure "participation" and "promote freedom". They found a five thousand-strong police presence making the point that, while markets may be free, the market for mass demonstration by the citizens of democracies remains most regulated.
In this case this meant the powers that be deciding it was necessary to set one cop against every couple of citizens just in case any conflicts needed to be "solved peacefully". Otherwise those on the march might well have marred the celebrations of Merkel and her mates when they gathered at the Brandenburg Gate for a group happy snap after the signing ceremony. They may have been too much of a reminder that many are seeking an altermondialisme and aren't quite in the mood to party about the gains of the kind of globalisation they're struggling with - the type where the rich get richer at a ridiculously disproportionate rate. As it turns out only a thousand turned up to make their point by marching, and as a result the ridiculously disproportionate rate most salient was that of cops to citizens - a five to one ratio.
And so whilst the European Union was celebrated by some (and in some aspects rightfully so) there is still work to be done and, as George Schöpflin writes in a recent article published by OpenDemocracy, "the EU now faces two great challenges: renewing its legitimacy, and facing globalisation".
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EU: Doing the ACP Countries a Favour?
From Stratfor yesterday:
Aggressive tactics in trade negotiations
Ten years ago, the European Commission boasted that Europe's colonial era is "behind us" and the Berlin Declaration celebrated last week commits the European Union to "drive back poverty, hunger and disease" throughout the world ... but EU officials continue to face allegations that they are using aggressive tactics in trade negotiations with a range of developing countries.
The European Commission is currently negotiating Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) with 75 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. EU trade officials appear to be using these back door trade deals to get ACP tariffs on a large number of imports scrapped.
Glenys Kinnock, co-president of the ACP/EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, has said there are grave concerns that the EC is trying to conclude the EPAs in haste and warns that key issues of trade and development remaining unresolved.
Comparing the five-year EPA negotiations, to be concluded by year-end, to the World Trade Organisation's Doha round of negotiations – which started in 2001 and are yet to be concluded – Kinnock questions whether it is fair to expect ACP nations to make "huge decisions about liberalisation and how their economies would fare" in such a short space of time.
And Glenys Kinnock might wish to consider swapping "economies" with "people, especially women" in that soundbite.
Kathleen A.Boohene, writing for the Third World Network, worries that the EPAs pose a grave danger to women as far as their livelihood and role as food providers is concerned:
Strong dissatisfaction with the EU
John O'Sullivan, a columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, asks a good question:
O'Sullivan lays out what grounds he thinks European dissatisfaction is based upon. I'm not sure that he's entirely correct. Sure it reflects to some extent the reality to say Europeans register strong dissatisfaction with the EU because the Brussels-based bureaucracy is too powerful and remote from everyday concerns, but there is more to it. I think the basic issue is that citizens are not being engaged in debates about European policy matters at the earliest possible stages.
Until the early 1990s, citizens seemed to accept a situation in which decisions were being taken in their name at the European level, but without their involvement in the process. Since then, however, European leaders have had to learn that the era of permissive consensus was over. People across Europe sense there is a democratic deficit and something needs to be done about it.