The former German Chancellor (2005-2021), Angela Merkel, invited European political decision-makers to remember the “three promises” underpinning the project to build Europe, on Tuesday 19 May, when she was presented by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, with the medal of the European Order of Merit, awarded for the first time to 20 individuals (see EUROPE 13825/33).
In these turbulent times, it is good to remember that “there are constants” in the day-to-day work of building Europe, said Ms Merkel in the hemicycle of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
She listed the “three promises” made by the founding fathers at the end of the Second World War: - “peace”, which – once again – is no longer “self-evident”, since the new doctrine of the United States shows that the EU no longer benefits from its protection, hence the relaunch of the “Defence Union” project; -“prosperity”, without which Europeans will not be able to demonstrate the added value of the EU or meet the challenges of climate change; - “democracy and human dignity”.
On this last point, Ms Merkel urged the EU to rediscover its pioneering spirit. At a time when social networks are blurring the line between what is true and what is false, she advocated “returning to the path of regulating social networks and artificial intelligence”. “Perhaps mistakes will be made. But we are going to learn from these mistakes”, she conceded, convinced that “when there is no accountability in the dissemination of information (...) it damages democracy”.
The EU is more necessary than ever. Among the other winners of this first edition of the European Order of Merit, former EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy (1999-2009), Javier Solana (Spanish), admitted that he had never anticipated the world as it is today.
In his view, “the European Union is more necessary than ever” and must “recover the role” it played 20 years ago by becoming more involved in creating the conditions for peace in the Middle East and in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, called on the younger generations to pick up the torch and lead the fight for European integration, drawing inspiration from the “courage” of the European Order of Merit winners. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)