Resumo de What Is Europe?

In the 1970s, Henry Kissinger, when asked about the USA?s transatlantic partnership, answered ?Europe? Give me a name and a number.? Thus Richard Nixon?s Secretary of State pinpointed Europe?s main weakness, then and now : it?s lack of identity. To attempt to define Europe, one has to approach the word from different viewpoints. The most straightforward question to be asked is a purely geographical one : what are Europe?s borders? Europe is first and foremost a vast penisula of Eurasia, that stretches from the Strait of Gibraltar to the Urals in the East, from the Dardannelles in the South to Northern and Baltic seas. The European continent spreads over ten million square kilometers of land. However, Europe?s geographical borders are something of a convention, insofar as they are rarely debated and only don?t really answer the question of a european identity.For many people, Europe is today a synonym of the European Union. After all the European Economic Community did appear in 1957 as a reaction to an utterly decimated continent in dire straits ? the will to live together as a whole was in fact a desperate plea for peace. So if one deals with Europe as the EU, the question becomes what is the European Union?The European Union?s institutions and their evolution mirror Europe?s quest for identity. The relations between the institutions as well as the state/EU relations follow two distinct ways of thinking : federalism and inter-governemental relations. These two different types of reasonning reflect the never-ending battle inside the Eu between the various political factions. This major inner contradiction explains Europe?s ever-lasting difficulty of finding itself.On the one hand, Europe is developing as a federal union, i.e. towards a system that recognizes a central authority above the states.The euro is the first accomplished example of a federal type of reasonning, by creating a common superior organisation, the European Central Bank, thus showing a will for a european economic identity. Politically, the European Commission also represents federalism, each commissioner being in theory independant from his or her country and acting in the community?s interests. But Europe as a federal structure like Germany or the USA is best-portrayed by the European Parliament. This institution, by directly representing the populations in Europe implies the existence of a european population, divided no longer by nationality but by political opinion. Figures show that 60% of EU citizens say they feel very or fairly attached to Europe, while a third of Europeans between the ages of 21 and 35 say they regard themselves as more European than as nationals of their home country. So if we follow this progression by looking at how the EU works, Europe is first an economic union, then a political union, and finally the union of populations. This federal vision of Europe does exist (European law supercedes national law) but is not developed enough to qualify the Union as a whole. In fact, an opposite trend is simultaniously evolving.At the same time, many countries want Europe to be a union of states - no more, no less. The European Council and the Council of ministers show this side of the debate. Within these organisations each state defends their point of view. In practice, the Commission often adopts a similar tendancy. A common interest is no longer at stake ? each state representative will act for his or her own state?s benefit only. Obviously, this inherant ambiguity explains the EU?s institutionnal deadlock. The recent turn of events is the perfect example. A fortnight ago, the European Parliament considerably strengthened its position by forcing future commission President Mr Barroso to stand down and withdraw his commission-to-be, thus operating a major political breakthrough : the union of peoples overcame the union of states.Finally, where does Europe as in the EU end? Where does one draw the line? What about the countries that are European geographically (or just close to Europe) but left out politically? The heated debate on Turkey?s admission brought this issue into the spotlight. This issue made the EU feel uncomfortable because it indirectly asks the question of Europe?s identity (by asking what was required to become an EU member) and points out that the EU still doesn?t know what kind of Europe it wants to be and where it is heading.So although the question ?what is Europe? may only be answered today by an economic and more or less political union, it is blocked by an inherant deadlock. However, it would seem that Europe is becoming more and more a union of peoples ; it is in fact presented thus in the Constitutionnal Treaty signed by the 25 members last june. Will the various populations ratify the treaty? The problem is that the Constitution suffers from the same paradoxe as does the EU, for the institutionnal organisation the treaty puts forward has hardly changed. Until the State members agree to give up a little more of their soverainty, Europe cannot have an identity as a whole. To be fair, it seems understandable for Europe to take so long to properly become something ? it is after the first time in history such a project has been attempted. Whether it will fully succeed remains to be seen.

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