Reacting to excess defeatism. There is far too much disillusion and suspicion among public opinion today. To start with, people too easily forget the significance of European unity and what it has achieved, namely freedom, an end to war, the removal of borders and democracy even in areas that had never before experienced it. The united Europe is still seen as a model for the rest of the world. The countries around the rim of the EU are queuing up to join the club and millions of people from outside Europe are risking their lives to get in. Carping and criticism, however, are all the rage. But if this eurosceptic atmosphere helps overcome the current problems and disagreements, then so much the better.
It would be useful to have a reminder of the positive aspects to the current situation. The attempts to overcome the problems and complications are starting to pay off or at least view the future with enhanced hope and optimism.
1. As far as the US is concerned, the EU is crucial. As the G8 meeting last Saturday showed, the United States needs the EU to operate properly, with a robust single currency. The idea that Barack Obama is focusing on Asia in general and China in particular, seeing Europe as somewhere to be ignored, was shown to be false by what happened at the G8 meeting, and if anyone on the other side of the Pond ever imagined that Europe can be ignored, then they were forced into a U-turn. EU-US cooperation is entering a new boom period.
2. The euro exchange rate. Public opinion must have the impression that the euro is constantly falling in value against the dollar, because every slight decline is amplified for all it's worth in the media and movements in the opposite direction are glossed over. In fact, the value of the euro does not change much, but fluctuates very slightly. The figures show that the euro was worth $1.218 on 21 June 2010; it went up and down a bit in 2011 and was $1.265 on 16 January 2012. Some experts say that it would be better for the euro to be worth less.
3. Glimpses of sunshine. There were some positive signs ahead of the informal evening summit of heads of state this week, the first being agreement between the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council of Ministers to set up project bonds, jointly issued, guaranteed bonds to raise cash for big infrastructure of common European interest. Optimists see this as a step towards eurobonds…
The second positive sign was the vote at the EP in favour of the EU financial transaction tax, as described by the European Commission. There is still a lot of resistance to the idea at Council of Ministers level and many tough problems to be ironed out, but a positive sign nevertheless.
4. Putting one's money where one's mouth is. The idea that budget discipline must go hand-in-hand with economic stimulus is now being backed by all EU institutions, right up to heads of state level. The political parties are even squabbling about who came up with the idea first. This marks a sea-change compared with how things were during approval of the fiscal compact! People are even considering today whether some public spending should be excluded from the deficit calculations; and this idea has not been put forward by the Left - it is Mario Monti's brainchild.
The important thing right now is not to get bogged down with the details, like whether economic stimulus should take the form of changes to the fiscal compact, or be added to the treaty in a separate statement or whatever. This would be dangerous given the rules on the fiscal compact coming into force automatically once it has been ratified by a certain number of eurozone member states.
Other reasons to be cheerful. There are a few more reasons to be cheerful about the situation in Europe, like Michel Barnier's initiatives to extend and build up the operation and character of the single market, and Karel De Gucht's work to get other countries to echo the EU and genuinely open up their own markets. These are matter of crucial importance when it comes to improving Europe's economic and social well-being, along with Europe's role on the world stage.
(FR/transl.fl)