The latest developments in Europe - some positive, some worrying - call for a few comments that go beyond the official, sometimes placatory or artificial positions. Here are a few examples:
Dutch balance. The result of the elections in the Netherlands is both encouraging and instructive. It is encouraging because it proves that the large majority of Dutch people remain pro-European. The victory of the political parties in favour of Community construction was clear and the new government will obviously move in the same direction. The result is instructive because it confirms that opinion polls taken in advance in which extremist positions in particular are expressed, are not necessarily to be trusted.
Austerity, which has been in force in the Netherlands just as much as anywhere else, has not chilled the European spirit, and the argument in favour of leaving the EU has shown its limits. Even so, some political forces have criticised a few of the EU's attitudes, particularly the excessive condescension towards Greece.
Austerity has a positive aspect too. The efforts of the all the governments to recover the budgetary situation of their countries involve austerity measures that necessarily demand sacrifices from their populations. But these efforts also have a useful role which is often forgotten - they show how far the deficits to correct were (and still are today in large part) provoked by abuses and wastage in all domains. The criticism and gradual elimination of these abuses and wastage therefore represent the positive element of austerity - the complaints of those who profit from the abuses and wastage, and who try to save their privileges, are often at the root of the protests we hear all around. Any State that does not proceed with the essential clean-up has no national dignity and does not deserve an active role in the management of Europe.
It is not a question of political approach - the resolve to re-establish budgetary balance is today very strong, whether the government be Socialist (France), technical (Italy) or on the Right (Spain), and obviously in each case, with the support of the majority of the national parliament.
The elimination of the abuse thus represents the positive aspect of austerity, regardless of whether the abuses come from the political class, the public administration, or certain economic or social categories. It is only one aspect of the recovery for states that must re-establish the crucial and obligatory budgetary balance. But the breadth of what has been uncovered proves that it is far from a negligible aspect.
Details not to forget. The adversaries of austerity sometimes forget to take into account the cost of the financial support that they advocate. Why pays for this? The European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) has already committed to half of what is to be given (especially for Greece, but also for Portugal and Ireland) and the new European Stability Mechanism (ESM) will soon be up and running and will begin to make its fund available at the start of next year. Obviously, when the time comes, a country that is helped by the ESM will not participate in the funding that is destined for itself. The heavyweight euro members have up to now contributed to the payments, without receiving anything. Germany, which participates in the ESM to the level of €190 billion, will not be able to go beyond this ceiling without national parliamentary authorisation. The money that is available will have to be managed carefully. It is easy to be demagogic, claiming, for instance, that aid for Greece must be prolonged.
But within the European Parliament, for example, it does not seem that the aspect of these two funds' availability, linked to the respect of commitments by the beneficiaries, has been taken into consideration.
Not giving in to fanatic Muslims. The assassination of an ambassador and of three American diplomats in Libya, and the violent demonstrations against the West in general, in reaction to a film denigrating Islam, are inadmissible. It must be stressed that the authorities of the countries concerned have reacted to the assaults against the embassies and other Western buildings, and have protected the Americans and Europeans who were targeted - no authority of a Muslim country has, to my knowledge, tolerated this violence, and the Egyptian president, Mohammed Morsi, has joined the condemnation of this violence.
But the United States is accused of having provoked the reaction of the Muslim peoples itself by allowing the distribution of a film which insults Islam. Yet, neither the United States nor Europe can renounce freedom of expression by bans managed and decided by political authorities - this is quite simply an essential aspect of freedom. The violent demonstrations seem to have calmed down, but the question remains complex and delicate and this column will return to this in detail, particularly on the aspects that are hidden. (FR/transl.fl)