Radical changes afoot. Last week's European summit very much opened the door to the resumption of European integration. At first glance, the decisions taken are not spectacular ones; in several cases, the results are simply a roundup of various dossiers under discussion or a confirmation of stances already in the public domain. At the same time, ambitious projects have been confirmed, such as the creation of the Energy Union, which was adopted by the heads of state or government as proposed by the European Commission (for the details, see EUROPE 11279). And the tightening-up of disciplines concerning the access of illegal immigrants to Community soil are now in the bag. One might say that certain fundamental developments in European integration, previously merely theoretical or still in the suggestion phase, have now been confirmed and defined.
On top of this, of course, comes the launch of future developments. Jean-Claude Juncker explicitly spoke (in an interview with the German daily newspaper Die Welt) of the creation of the European army, a revolutionary innovation to which this column will return. Leaving to one side, for the moment, these highly innovative projects, a number of developments are virtually in place already, although their application will require a few more tweaks, as differences of opinion subsist. However, the fundamental approaches are increasingly uniform. The Community authorities increasingly understand the need to safeguard the nature and identity of the EU and the requirement to take steps to do so.
The world of finance is putting right its past wrongs, but… As we know, the press played a leading role in denouncing the abuses and excesses of the world of finance; now, the way it operates is better regulated and more transparent. However, the application of new, reinforced rules and disciplines is a gradual thing; in the meantime, more past abuses have come to light, and it is no mean feat to separate them from the new rules, the application of which is taking time. But in many cases, this progress has been interpreted incorrectly; for example, the falling value of the euro against the dollar has been presented or understood as a negative development, whilst it is in fact positive.
In this still fragile context, the dynamism of the European Central Bank (ECB) has been the subject of comments and explanations which have clashed in some cases, within the world of finance itself. It is hard for the European institutions, the European Parliament in particular, to take a stance. The majority opinion, by a long way, is that the ECB is doing its job wisely and effectively.
A Greek evolution is inevitable. I won't change my mind about this: Greece can no longer be part of the eurozone, for the reasons laid out in EUROPE 11269 in particular. If the highly lively negotiations underway lead to compromises, I do not believe that they can be sustainable. Many countries of the Eurogroup would not be able to participate in the necessary financing, and Greece itself would not be able to honour its renewed obligations. A forcible continuation of the status quo could only be temporary, whilst a Grexit would not be especially dramatic and would allow Greece to undertake the reforms it desperately needs. Besides, not being a member of the single currency does not lead to any loss of prestige, as other member states of the EU amply demonstrate.
And nor does the idea that Greece could be bankrolled by Russia change the reality of the situation.
Russia: resuming dialogue? It is obvious who the worst enemies of Europe and its civilisation are -the pseudo-Muslims whose only goal is to grow as rich as possible on the back of blackmail of a level of cruelty which, in many cases, is hard even to imagine. These people have nothing to do with a religion, because the prisoners are freed as soon as the ransom demanded is handed over; if it is not, they inflict the cruellest torture in the history of humanity. When you think of what the true Muslim culture used to stand for… This column will return to the subject.
The current situation should also lead, amongst other things, to a resumption of dialogue with Russia, instead, I stress again, of mutual sanctions with negative consequences for Russia and for us. Solid dialogue, without concessions, involving the explicit defence of the EU's positions; but dialogue nonetheless, taking account of the scale of our actual relations with Russia. Mr Donald Tusk, president of the European Council (and of the eurozone summits, even though Poland is not a member…), needs to take his responsibilities. I will have more to say on this subject as well. (FR)