Refusing at this stage to draw up a balance sheet of his single term of office as head of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker wants to take advantage of the 250 days left before the European elections to demonstrate to European citizens that by being united, the European Union – as a "European sovereignty coming from national sovereignty" – is able to improve their daily life and obtain better results on the international scene than the member states acting in an isolated fashion.
"Sharing our sovereignties – there where it’s needed – makes each of our nation States stronger. This conviction that united we are bigger is the very essence of what it means to be part of the European Union", he said on Wednesday 12 September during his State of the Union speech.
Based on respect for the law, this European sovereignty, said Juncker, can help solve the difficulties faced by Europeans in the economic domain, via investment, or the social domain, by regulating the Single Market. It can help protect from security threats and allow them to face the challenge of migration with solidarity and in an orderly manner. At international level, European sovereignty can also allow Europeans to defend their principles and values, their commercial interests and even the planet.
Unveiling a handful of new legislative initiatives to be made tangible by May 2019 (see other articles), the Commission president said that European sovereignty and "enlightened patriotism" that is not directed against anyone, can feed into each other.
"Let us bear in mind that the patriotism of the 21st century has a double dimension – one national and the other European – which do not rule each other out", said Juncker. Perhaps referring to recent events in Chemnitz in Germany or rising populist arguments in the member states, he recommended a Europe capable of "remaining a continent of openness and tolerance". He praised "enlightened patriotism" that does not hate others, and he slammed "blinkered nationalism" as "rotten lies and pernicious poison".
This reductionist opposition - of shared European sovereignty and nationalism – is already a heated issue in pre-electoral hustings on the European and national political scene. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)