[FR] 2018, a year to embrace the choice of Europe

The year 2017 ended on a sad note for the European Union: the activation of the now infamous Article 7 of the European Treaty against Poland for risking serious damage to the rule of law, which could potentially deprive it of its voting rights in the Council of the EU. Earlier in the year, Article 50 was triggered by the United Kingdom to start the Brexit countdown. While other passages in the treaties that could advance Europe remain unimplemented, two quite exceptional mechanisms, initially designed never to be used, were invoked within a few months (as elsewhere, for other reasons, Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution towards Catalonia). Reaching these extremes, having been unable to prevent them in advance, now leads us to recall what the European contract implies.

Although entirely distinct from each other, the two ongoing procedures are likely to poison the European political climate during this new year 2018. There is nothing sensational or spectacular about these lengthy legal battles. It is even a sign of sophistication in the management of disputes that they have been contained, or at least kept under control. But this reflects a state of internal tension within the European Union. The challenge in 2018 will be to prevent it from being overly exploited and exacerbated politically in the run-up to next year’s European elections and the various national elections that will take place throughout the year. The difficulty in conducting the current proceedings will be to prevent them from being turned into a machine for national humiliation, which would remain etched in the memories of the people. Even more politically, the Commission must show that it acts as the guardian of the treaties, not as a lecturer. More broadly, the EU must remind us more than ever that its project is not contrary to nations, that it respects unique histories and collective preferences, and that it cherishes diversity.

But, fundamentally, the beginning of the ostracisation of one country – there is talk of “Polexit” – and the preparation for the deliberate exit of another – the United Kingdom – both highlight the fundamental choice that membership of the European Union represents for a people. It is a choice that carries obligations. Throughout 2017, the British people have come to realise the full implications of this exit, which they have chosen for their own reasons. They have not yet fully grasped all the consequences, as Michel Barnier reminds them with courteous firmness.

In another role, Frans Timmermans has the delicate task of explaining to Poland what EU membership entails in terms of the rule of law, particularly the independence of the judiciary. But the unprecedented activation of Article 7 should also serve as a warning to other EU states tempted to violate fundamental freedoms, which are succinctly referred to as European values or principles.

In both cases, whether one chooses to remain in the Union or to leave it, there is a democratic choice, a sovereign choice, which has been made and which must be accepted. No one is obliged to join the European Union. Let us remember that the British said yes to Europe in a referendum in 1975. Others, such as the Norwegians, have twice refused to join by the same referendum route. And, as in an English club, you are admitted if the other members present accept you. In 1972, a French referendum was needed to overcome De Gaulle’s double veto on Britain’s entry, which immediately cast a chill over relations between the British and the continent.

Today, with regard to the British, the EU can pride itself on respecting a democratic choice, even if it took the most caricatural form of the referendum held on 29 June 2016 across the Channel after an aggressive, even hateful campaign. Unless the British people change their minds or their representatives in Westminster regain the upper hand, Brexit will eventually have to go ahead. Otherwise, there is a risk of sending the devastating message that a country could ultimately find itself caught in the EU’s net, with no way of escaping. But to choose is to give up. This includes, if we leave, the advantages of the European market and its international commercial strength, even if their appeal is being rediscovered belatedly across the Channel.

With regard to Poland, the approach is the opposite. The aim is to highlight not the consequences of wanting to leave the EU, but those of having joined it. The Poles chose to join the EU in a referendum in 2003, where the ‘yes’ vote won with over 77% (a vote marred, however, by an abstention rate of over 40%). From the outset, Warsaw has rightly positioned itself as a key member of the Union, seeking to influence its direction. But the Union is based on a foundation of fundamental rights that every EU Member State undertakes to uphold. Poland is not the only target. Europe’s voice will only be credible and listened to in the world if it is consistent with itself, particularly from Prague to Budapest and from Vienna to Bucharest, via Madrid and Barcelona, among others. According to a high-level source in Brussels, one third of EU members are open to criticism on their respect for the rule of law.

The EU is often criticised for its ‘democratic deficit’. Brexiters have used this as an argument to justify a supposed return to national control over their choices. The most Eurosceptic among the Poles do not hesitate to compare Brussels to Moscow. The great challenge facing the European institutions and the Member States in 2018 is to show, on the contrary, that they respect and enforce democratic functioning and the rule of law. Europe can integrate in different ways, depending on the collective choices of each country, but when it comes to its founding values, there can be no multi-speed Europe. Similarly, Europe must stand firm on the rules that are inseparable from the single market in the negotiation of its future relationship with the United Kingdom.

The ‘citizen consultations’, which are to take place in France and several other European countries this year, may be an opportunity to verify this attachment to values, to explain them, and to demonstrate, through the preparation for Brexit, all that European membership facilitates in practice, even though it remains too often associated with unnecessary complications. The triggering of Articles 7 and 50 provides an opportunity to take ownership of what it means to be part of the European Union, charting a path towards belonging to the same project.