My colleague from Paris Dauphine, Dominique Meda, wrote the following in her Le Monde weekly column of 26 May (translated mostly by ChatGP) which, despite points of disagreement (about singling out Germany), I wish to repost as a call to votes for more Europe.
Despite [the imperfections and limitations of the EU governance], there have many recent advances. Several important social reforms were carried out at the end of this legislature, notably thanks to the hard work of part of the Parliament and the Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmidt.
We do need more EU. We need, as Habermas suggested in 2018 in a powerful lecture, a more democratic EU, a Parliament with more power, that stops yielding to the European Commission and refuses the minor arrangements between States that encroach on its legitimacy and renationalize debates when it is crucial to prioritize a European interest. We have nothing to gain from a return to bargaining between nation-States nor from these negotiations taking place in secret, outside the European public sphere, as happened with the recent social directives.
Generally speaking, we need a true transnational space for sharing knowledge and debate, allowing us to better understand (and perhaps overcome?) our differences in approach. In his lecture, Habermas, like many in France, criticized Germany’s unconditional support for monetary stability. If we want to live together, shouldn’t we, at some point, be able to publicly discuss each other’s beliefs to better understand each other?
Michel Foucault brilliantly explained in “The Birth of Biopolitics” (lecture on January 31, 1979) why, in 1948, Ludwig Erhard’s demand for economic freedom enabled a traumatized, divided, and occupied Germany to rebuild the legitimacy of the German state. Isn’t it time for Germany to open a new chapter in its history? Yes, our countries would truly benefit from multiplying the spaces that allow for free and open exchanges about their sacred cows rather than letting the opponents of Europe fan the flames of nationalism, which is always ready to ignite.
Because this is where we are. While we have managed to organize a space that recognizes democracy, equality, freedom, the rule of law, dignity, and peace as foundational and shared values, a fatal blow risks being dealt to the ideal of a political community capable of resisting the ambitions of the surrounding empires in the next elections. Nationalism is back, with the hatreds and risks of war that it entails. We have the chance to vote freely on 09 June for parties committed to making the European Union a democratic community equipped to promote an ambitious ecological and social policy.
