There is one rule in life: never forget where you come from.
On 9 May 1950, a major strategic shift was proposed by the then French Foreign Affairs Minister, Robert Schuman. Pooling what Europeans were still fighting over after two fratricidal wars that had set the world ablaze was a crazy idea. It won popular support because it offered the assurance of lasting peace and the reconstruction of a devastated continent. So, eyes, full of hope, we turned to the future.
Are we still capable of such enthusiasm? Nothing could be less certain.
76 years of European integration have transformed the original project into inseparable ties and intertwined interests, but it has also become just part of everyday life. While, in the face of a harsher and more hostile environment, people still recognise the need to unite, the general sentiment points to an unfinished European Union that leaves many dissatisfied.
Habit has taken hold, creating a web of standards and rules, complex policies and decisions taken far removed from the people. Bureaucracy has infiltrated the spaces afforded to it by democracy; agility has given way to complicated processes; and speed of execution, the hallmark of efficiency, has diminished.
And yet no European nation today can imagine facing alone the challenges of a upheaval which is not just another crisis but a profound change of the world. Even if they had the will to do so, they could no longer do it.
The history of Europe teaches us that only the courage and the will to imagine the world of tomorrow can guarantee it a bright future. The project we owe to the Founding Fathers of Europe deserves a fresh start and new impetus.
We have nothing to disown from its past: it put Europeans back on the map of history, bringing them prosperity and stability. We have no reason to be ashamed of its present state: our continent is one of the most envied for its wealth, its freedoms and its rule of law, thus magnifying its exceptional historical and cultural heritage.
But it now needs a boost to regain the fervour of its early days.
Tangible achievements visible to its citizens, capable of ensuring its survival in the face of rivals and enemies, are essential to this renewal. This assessment appears to be widely shared, as reflected in the numerous reports and proposals currently on the table; there is a clear sense of the urgency to act.
What remains is to put them into practice, and to do so, we must rise above the interests of the moment—the best way to prepare properly for the future.
