Dear readers,
For years Europe's territory was laid waste by war. Every European city has some blood-stained historical vestige of conflict or civil unrest. We are now living through the longest period without war on the territory of the European Union. In the very places that were once torn apart we now have interregional and international bodies working to facilitate the smooth operation of the architecture that we call the EU. This is highly symbolic, of course, but symbolism is not enough.
During the first few decades after the European Economic Community was set up we saw that countries wanted to be members of this club, and the progress of this united Europe was based primarily on its economic potential. Common policies introduced to improve economic and social cohesion, in particular the currency union, were an important milestone, but the drive to achieve cultural and political convergence is not yet complete. For a significant proportion of Europe's citizens the vision of European integration has been obscured by heavy clouds.
Recognising the urgency of the situation, European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker last year presented the European institutions with a White Paper on the future of Europe. The EESC carried out a public consultation across Europe on the White Paper, and communicated the proposals from civil society to Mr Juncker. Whatever people's personal views and analysis with respect to the five scenarios that emerge from the Juncker White Paper, the fact is that conditions are too difficult to permit very bold approaches. But the White Paper's proposals on future challenges in the EU do not feature the word "democracy". And the mechanism that could resolve the dilemmas is precisely the putting of democracy into practice.
Democracy requires participation, not inertia. Those citizens who have learned to take part in the processes that concern them campaign and press their case, not just as members of an interest group, but in meaningful way to serve the public interest. If political union is achieved through public dialogue and joint agreement, and above all through every Member State respecting democratic institutions, then there is every reason for us to hope that we will build a Europe capable of withstanding current and future pressures.
There is no question that democracy holds the "key" to very many issues of our time. All we need to do is to use it. But to use democracy at European level, we have to have learned how to implement it in our own countries. On 1 and 2 March a major conference on the future of democracy in Europe will be held close to the Acropolis, the very site where the concept was born. I am really looking forward to meeting distinguished speakers to consider the factors that undermine democracy. and the threats to democracy in Europe. We will discuss the relationship between democracy and European law, highlight the reasons why social inequality results in a fracturing of social cohesion, and talk about the national sovereignty of the Member States in the context of European integration.
To paraphrase the poet Odysseus Elytis when he accepted the Nobel Prize: if democracy offers certainty in mean times, it is precisely because it is our destiny and in spite of everything our destiny lies in our hands.
Georges Dassis,
President of the EESC
Dear readers,
For years Europe's territory was laid waste by war. Every European city has some blood-stained historical vestige of conflict or civil unrest. We are now living through the longest period without war on the territory of the European Union. In the very places that were once torn apart we now have interregional and international bodies working to facilitate the smooth operation of the architecture that we call the EU. This is highly symbolic, of course, but symbolism is not enough.
Eleonora Di Nicolantonio (editor-in-chief)
Daniela Marangoni (dm)
Daniela Marangoni (dm)
Isabelle Henin (ih)
Jasmin Kloetzing (jk)
Katerina Serifi (ks)
Laura Lui (ll)
Leszek Jarosz (lj)
Marco Pezzani (mp)
Margarida Reis (mr)
Margarita Gavanas (mg)
Siana Glouharova (sg)
Silvia M. Aumair (sma)
Agata Berdys (ab)
Katerina Serifi (ks)
European Economic and Social Committee
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Next issue: March 2018