Sumario: 15 November 2007, New York - Speech by Margot Wallström, European Commission Vice President responsible for Institutional Relations and Communication Strategy, on "Europe at a turning point?" at the Foreign Policy Association
There is always a danger with the label of a turning point. We all tend to be on the lookout for the next decisive shift. Sometimes we are lucky enough to live through events whose significance is obvious from the first - like the fall of the Berlin Wall. But it is often left to the historians to make a more definitive judgment.
That is why you will have seen the question mark at the end of the title of this speech. I cannot claim to know for sure that the shifts in the tectonic plates of European politics today will add up to a decisive shift - one significant enough to merit the attention of our friends here in the US, and elsewhere in the world.
But I do believe that change is in the air today. And today's generation of Europeans has a good chance of seizing the opportunity to give Europe a significant new direction. With the European Union once again being the obvious vehicle to use.
So what is making the difference? Well, there are different answers. Enlargement is definitely one. Those who said that bring as many as 27 countries together under the EU umbrella would never work, and those who said it would make no difference, are both being proved wrong. It has made us stronger. It has added the dynamism of rapidly growing economies with new ideas. And I believe it has raised out sights - the thinking about our place in the world is noticeably different to ten years
ago.
Another reason might be more confidence in the European economy. Partly due to improved performance - 6.5 million new jobs in the last two years is a pretty good record. Partly due to the coming of age of the euro: its stability in the face of this year's financial turbulence has won the euro a lot of friends. But mainly because I think European uncertainties about globalisation are giving way to a feeling that European ways of running a society can be reconciled with the march of
globalisation. Certainly, we have to work at it. But Europe is not on a one-way ticket to the lowest common denominator. It is rather finding its own ways to bring a distinctively European response. I will return to this later.
But amongst the possible reasons for seeing Europe at a turning point, the reason I would like to concentrate on today is the new Treaty of Lisbon - the latest reform of the treaties bringing together the countries of Europe which this year celebrated their 50th anniversary.
I can guess what some of you are thinking. Here we go again. More European obsession with internal structures and institutions. More navel-gazing. More distraction from the real issues facing Europe in the modern world.
But that would be a misreading. The new Treaty is important for what it says about Europe today. A Europe which has a remarkable degree of consensus about where it is heading. And a Europe that is quietly equipping itself with the tools it needs to get there.
So I will concentrate my remarks today on two questions: what does the Treaty do? And why is it important - important enough to deserve the attention of audiences beyond the shores of Europe.
It is not surprising that we both have a big interest in political developments on the other side of the Atlantic. We are bound together by a long history. Our families have shared triumphs and tragedies, our values and principles draw on the same traditions. Every day the EU and the US work together on a range of issues that affect us all, promoting peace and stability, tacking global challenges, and deepening our economic ties - already, we are each other's biggest trading partner, with a
two-way direct investment stock is worth not far short of $2 trillion.
Our destinies are linked. We need to understand each other well if we are to realise the potential we have to work together, to make sure our values of democracy and openness set the tone for global relations. So it is worth taking the time to understand the next phase in European integration.
The Treaty of Lisbon
Next month, EU leaders will sign the new Treaty. As you know, this has not been an easy process. The previous attempt to make progress, the Constitution, foundered when popular referenda in France and the Netherlands turned it down. And the process will not be over in December, either. It still needs to be ratified by all 27 Member States. We can take nothing for granted. But we are far enough ahead in the process to allow ourselves to reflect on what difference the Treaty will make.
First, a little historical perspective. The European Union is fifty years old this year. Perhaps I should say "only" fifty years old. In that time, it has grown in size. It has become a remarkable motor for democracy and reconciliation across the whole continent. It has moved from a simple coal and steel community to the biggest Internal Market ever created. It has developed, broadened and deepened, contributing to every aspect of daily life, from trade to transport, from environment to health
and from security to foreign affairs.
On the way it has developed institutions and structures of its own. It has its own Parliament, its own Court of Justice, and for much of the Union, its own currency.
Pride in what the European Union has achieved so far has redoubled our determination to rework the Union face the challenges ahead. The reality is that the EU was falling behind on some of the key political tasks we face: engaging citizens distracted by the multiple options of the consumer society; ensuring that a Europe of 27 does not mean slower decisions; and giving the Union a better launching pad to address key policy goals. That is the task of the Treaty.
So what are the key elements of the new Treaty:
Firstly, it will be more democratic and transparent Union - giving more powers to national parliament and rights to the citizens
The European Union has often been seen as a project for the elite, something best left to the experts. Maybe that worked in the early days. But it is simply not sustainable today. Gradually, the EU has been making progress. The European Parliament has come closer and closer to being a fully-fledged partner in lawmaking. New initiatives no longer drop without warning from the ivory tower, but result from in-depth consultation with the key stakeholders.
National parliaments in the Member States have a new role. Citizens at last get to know for sure how their own national Ministers have voted. There will be more clarity on what happens at the European, and what at the national level. Citizens themselves will be able to petition for an initiative to be taken with a million signatures across several Member States. And a Charter of Fundamental Rights will underline to citizens that to be credible, the Union must be built on an explicit framework
of rights.
So the Treaty lays the foundations for a new relationship between the EU as an institution and its citizens. I have been putting the case for a more modern and more sophisticated communication strategy, one that recognises that public authorities today cannot afford either to stand aside from communication, or to conceive it as one-way traffic. To meet complex policy goals, we need government and citizens to share the same sense of direction - but this will only be possible with a genuine
engagement and a genuine dialogue.
Secondly, the new Treaty means faster and more efficient decision making
The European Union is a unique construct, bringing together 27 sovereign states in a highly ambitious partnership. Modern institutions are needed, to accelerate decision-making in a rapidly-changing world. The Treaty will make it easier for the Union to take decisions in areas from crime and terrorism to energy and climate change.
In addition, a fresh look at the core institutions has introduced important changes: such as a streamlined Commission and a permanent President of the European Council.
Thirdly, the new Treaty will ensure a more efficient foreign policy
The Union has gradually become more effective on the global stage: I think that faced with the same sort of challenges as faced in the Western Balkans in the early 1990s, Europe today would be far more coherent and effective. But there is still a sense that it punches beneath its weight.
The Treaty of Lisbon will give EU external policy more coherence. There will be more clarity on who speaks for Europe - with the President of the European Council will become the face for what we call Common Foreign and Security Policy, and the President of the Commission majoring on areas like trade and development. A new post with a lengthy title - High Representative of Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the Commission for External Relations - will pull together the
different elements, and will be able to present common positions at the UN on behalf of Member States sitting as members of the Security Council.
The Treaty will also include new provisions on the different aspects of external policy. One example is European Common Security and Defence Policy, setting out what can be done collectively, but also making clear that Member States can choose to act in a smaller group. To be clear, the rationale of this is not to challenge NATO. Indeed, the trend of thinking in Europe today seems more that a more effective European security and defence policy would rather leave the EU better placed to work
hand in hand with NATO.
And finally : Europe and globalisation - putting climate change on top of the political agenda
I believe the Treaty is at once a sign of an important trend, and a catalyst for it to accelerate. Let's be honest: the option was there for European leaders to brush the problems under the carpet, to persuade themselves that the status quo was not too bad after all to avoid a painful argument. But this option was not taken. Instead, European leaders agreed that this was just too important to be allowed to drop.
It is worth asking the question why. How come those arguing that Europe had got too big or too ambitious have been so clearly repulsed? How come the process of agreeing the Treaty between 27 diverse national positions was, in the end, amazingly trouble-free?
The answer lies perhaps in the power of globalisation.
It had become crystal clear that the big issues concerning Europeans today - jobs, migration, crime, energy supplies, climate change - sustainable development - could not be tackled at national level. And in the European Union, Europeans had a ready-made instrument to help. If you look at the opinion polls, there has been a big shift of support for the EU, to the highest figures for 10 years. The actions of the EU itself have played a part. But a key influence has also been the fact that
globalisation means that the EU "makes sense" in a way perhaps unmatched since the early years of reuniting a continent wracked by war.
The result is a Treaty which, when ratified, will act as a real catalyst in terms of Europe's ability to deliver change. It will leave the EU with more solid democratic foundations, and with a machinery up to speed with today's needs. Both essential to provide the modern EU that is needed.
I believe that it will not be too long before the US, and other international partners, begin to feel the difference. Then we will know that perhaps the idea of a turning point was not so wide of the mark.
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