[FR] The third act of European history

Europe, like all of us, is facing a period that historians will describe as a “turning point”. At the end of this decisive phase, nothing will be the same again, both for our countries and for our common destiny. The European Union is exhausted, not by war in the strict sense of the word, but by external events whose impact is comparable to the damage caused by conflict. For ten years, it has suffered the consequences of a deep economic crisis that has shaken the foundations of our development model, eroded the paradigms of our social protection system, and radically conditioned political movements and the functioning of democracy. The Union has achieved some great things, from the euro to comprehensive monetary policy management thanks to Mario Draghi’s “whatever it takes” approach, but with a process of integration that is still partial, incomplete and lacking in political and democratic legitimacy. It has endured five years of migration crisis, giving the public an image of thousands of deaths in the Mediterranean Sea, several kilometres of queues along the new borders hastily drawn with barbed wire, and family photos of successive European Councils, all of which have been largely unable to find solutions that reconcile integration and security, humanity and consensus. The Union is ageing, confused and divided.

Five major events are coming up in 2019: Brexit, the European elections, the concomitant renewal of all decision-making positions at the head of the various European institutions, including the Commission, and the possibly changed relationship between Germany and the other Member States.

Thus, beyond the excesses of emphatic rhetoric that has proved disproportionate on too many occasions in the past, 2019 will undoubtedly be conducive to unprecedented scenarios. How can we prepare for this? How can Europe’s ruling classes and peoples face these challenges without giving up the most important achievements in European history?