La cible
In this short work, which can easily be read in a single sitting, the MEP Sandro Gozi discusses the attacks of which he was the target (the ‘cible’ of the title) when his decision to stand for election in France was announced and his first steps at the European Parliament. A citizen of Europe, an Italian national who was elected in France, the author, who aims to “embody a new transnational politics”, stresses that this ambition is a “virtually Sisyphean task” (our translation throughout). But it is the task of a “Sisyphus without gods, as the Europe of politics is a continent with no divinity, inhabited by people who are openly or secretly nationalistic, of cold and hypocritical Europeans of all kinds”, he writes, adding shortly afterwards: “being European today is like running a marathon in the opposite direction to all the other runners. It’s hard enough to run 42 km, but if you have to do it against the flow, it becomes a colossal challenge”. And from this point of view, Francis just as bad as Italy, he explains, yet reiterating his love for France and, needlessly, his great respect for its President.
“Everywhere in Europe, and France is no exception, nationalistic resistance to European change is strong and not just among extremists”, Gozi notes, before going on to observe that “this resistance is widespread, rooted in a mix of ignorance, national naval-gazing and witch hunting. You don’t need to visit arch-sovereignist blogs, just read a few national daily newspapers (…). In France, this resistance to change can sometimes be translated by a hypocritical relationship with Europe, driven both by certain media sources and sections of the political classes. We are witnessing an outdated concept of the nation state that is, at one and the same time, nostalgic, insular and shot through with national prejudice”.
Reading the catalogue of attacks to which this former Secretary of State for European Affairs was subjected in Italy when he decided to stand in France, together with calls to strip him of his Italian nationality, it is hard to know whether to cry about the image this gives of Italian politicians, aided by some of the country’s media, or (as I did) to laugh at something so utterly ludicrous.
But aside from the attacks (all of which were clearly attributed) and anecdotes, Gozi also sets out to defend his beliefs, which include the need to fight the immobility of the more nervous Europeans, which is “potentially more dangerous than nationalistic rhetoric”. “I firmly believe that the status quo is Europe’s greatest enemy. Small steps may bring us to the edge of the cliff, like sleep-walkers. We need to fight against this”. He therefore sees the recovery plan and the recent change in Chancellor Merkel’s attitude as an opportunity, also to undertake the institutional reform Europe so needs.
He is greatly in favour of such a reform, to rebuild Europe as a power. “Today, it falls to us to decide on the relationship between Europe and the United States and our role in the world”, writes the author, stressing that “alliance with the United States continues to be necessary… but it is no longer enough!” “Thirty years ago (in my view, ‘for the last 30 years’ would be more accurate), we experienced a kind of second ‘Trente Glorieuses’ (a reference to the period of strong economic growth in France between 1945 and 1975) with the growing affirmation of the rule of law to manage international relations and resolve conflicts and integration as the principal model of regional governance. We are now moving into a different epoque: the Iron Age. In my view, the Iron Age is when weapons take precedence over the law”, writes Gozi, who is a fervent supporter of, amongst other things, a proper European system of defence. The European Union should also “reform its economic and social policy from the bottom up, grabbing the ‘opportunity’ provided by the new challenge of the ecological transition, which is, fundamentally, a transition of society”.
At the same time, and to borrow a favoured expression of Emmanuel Macron, the “logic of power” which Gozi supports means “making the euro into a true international currency, starting with a single representation of the monetary union on the international stage and within the International Monetary Fund”. It means “reforming European competition policy in the age of globalisation”, to give far greater consideration to international competition. Basically, the Commission must be able to stop making short-term assessments, denying public aid, blocking mergers, “playing down real power relations between European businesses and competitors from outside Europe, in a market that is growing ever more global”. The pandemic has proved how dependent we are and raised the question of borders and control, Gozi reiterates, observing that the “national response approach has failed and there was no European response”. We can learn from this: “it is therefore vitally important for European to convert to a policy of sovereignty: defence of common borders, autonomy in health and drug production, food, energy, economic, commercial and scientific sovereignty (…). To escape the Chinese-American duopoly, we must stabilise our energy supply, promote major European research consortiums and return to autonomy in the development of biotechnologies. This also means committing to a military Europe, not as an alternative to NATO, but to ensure that we have the resources to act autonomously wherever we need to protect our own geopolitical interests”. (Olivier Jehin)
Sandro Gozi. La cible. Éditions Saint-Simon. ISBN: 978-23-743-5023-3. 113 pages. €13,00
Manuel pour une sortie positive de la crise
The aim of this work is to identify specific measures to come out of crisis in the broadest sense as, in addition to the health, economic and social crisis resulting from the SARS-CoV2 pandemic, the crisis of global governance and that of the biosphere should also be taken into account.
Working on the basis of contributions by some 20 public figures, including Pascal Boniface (IRIS), François Gemenne (University of Liège), Hervé Le Bras (EHESS), Robert Sebbag (infectious diseases, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière) and Pierre Victoria (Veolia), the authors make the following recommendations, amongst others: (1) creating a “High Council of Resilience” within the framework of the G20, with the responsibility for anticipating and managing environmental, social, economic, health and cyber risks; (2) rechannelling investments into life economy sectors, which account for between 40% and 70% of GDP and jobs in different countries (under this heading, the authors include health, personal systems, education, water distribution, waste management, clean energy, housing, transport, agriculture and food, sport, the digital sector, culture and insurance); (3) creating a multi-disciplinary expert group tasked with strengthening the link between health and environment on the basis of a charter and the identification of best practices; (4) tackling poverty by making education – taking account of specific local contexts – into a means to leverage the resilience of future generations. (OJ)
Audrey Tcherkoff (editor). Manuel pour une sortie positive de la crise. Fayard. ISBN: 978-2-213-71786-9. 199 pages. €17,00
Le monde vu de Moscou
This title conceals a veritable dictionary of Russia, which attempts to unpick the geopolitics of Russia, from A for Abkhazia to Z for (grey) zones. In it, Jean-Sylvestre Mongrenier, associate professor of history, who holds a PhD in geopolitical science, and researcher at the Thomas More Institute, stresses that the “the worldview (what German philosophy terms the Weltanschauung) of Moscow refers back to the fundamental data and the forces of this State-continent: the immenseness of the spaces, its long historical period, the cult of derjava (English: great power)” (our translation throughout). “The omnipresence of the discourse of humiliation, which is sometimes used complacently in the West, calls attention to the depth of resentment in Russia and the appetite for revenge of the ruling class”, the author writes, adding that “although this psychological complex and the geopolitical representations underlying it are broadly disconnected from the historical truth, its power should not be underestimated. To shake off this mindset and the worldview that emanates from it would require a bundle of converging factors: crisis of the economic model based on oil and gas income, ongoing slowdown in growth, a calling into question of the excessive insistence on unanimity in domestic policy (…). We are not yet there (…). Vladimir Putin is looking to bolster his support in Asia to increase his influence in the West, where he is conducting a dangerous revisionist policy that is threatening the pan-European security architecture. It is fundamentally no exaggeration to talk about a second Cold War. With the affirmation of the People’s China on the international stage and the revisionist powers starting to build up a front, this conflict could mushroom. The risks and threats of the period therefore call for the West to reinforce its unity, which constitutes a challenge in itself”.
In all, this dictionary contains 550 entries, many of which are given over to the various administrative and Republican entities of the Russian Federation, the countries of Russia’s neighbourhood and its relations with various countries and regions of the world. It also features articles on the patrimonial authoritarianism that characterises the Russian political system, Eastern despotism, the National Guard and the Russians’ very specific relationship with a history that has been sacrilised and falsified in equal measure. But the real interest in this book lies mainly in the importance it confers upon the history of Russian thought and thinkers. Regrettably, the book is littered with not only typos and mistakes that a more rigorous degree of proofreading would have filtered out, but also with gaps, particularly concerning the economy and research, the media and communication. Such an ambitious work would unquestionably have been better served by a collective and multi-disciplinary approach. (OJ)
Jean-Sylvestre Mongrenier. Le monde vu de Moscou – Géopolitique de la Russie et de l’Eurasie postsoviétique. PUF. ISBN: 978-2-130-82515-9. 655 pages. €29,50
Rethinking the Role of the European Stability Mechanism for Local Communities
In this article, which was published in The Federalist Debate, Alfonso Iozzo, former President of the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, and Fabio Masini, Jean Monnet Chair on European Economic Governance at the University Rome III, make the case for extending the coverage of the European Stability Mechanism (EMS) to bolster the resilience of local authorities to crisis. They argue that the Covid-19 pandemic has changed the way individual and collective priorities are seen, on at least two levels: (1) the need to rethink social, economic, political and local planning to allow a faster, more efficient and more decentralised approach to external shocks, yet remaining coordinated overall; 2) the need to finance essential local infrastructures to allow local authorities to react to external shocks and challenges.
The authors note that state centralisation as it currently exists leads to the under-funding of local authorities. Iozzo and Masini suggest that the EMS, which currently has a lending capacity of 500 billion euros, be modified to allow it to provide support in the form of loans to the long-term investments of local authorities in infrastructure, including not only roads, bridges and airports, but also communication and energy networks, waste recycling, innovative health and hospital systems, research, logistics, social mobility, etc.
The same edition moreover includes an impassioned cri du cœur by the Secretary General of UEF-Hungary, Eszter Nagy, who urges the EU to stop supporting the Orbán regime. “Currently the EU funds – due to their government-centred distribution – are mostly favouring the further enrichment of the Fidesz-close oligarchs and strengthening of Orbán’s power”, the author stresses, adding that the intention of establishing a rule of conditionality with the observation of the rule of law is a good one, but that a different solution could be to reduce the role of governments in the distribution of European subsidies. She concludes: “the ‘Hungarian patient’ is on intensive care. But the ventilator of the EU-funds in our case is helping our special coronavirus, the authoritarian regime of Viktor Orbán, instead of the recovery and the convergence of the country”. (OJ)
Alfonso Iozzo and Fabio Masini. Rethinking the Role of the European Stability Mechanism for Local Communities. The Federalist Debate. Year XXXIII, Number 3, November 2020. http://www.federalist-debate.org