Of the texts about the Constitution for Europe which have filled the newspapers in recent days, I would like to flag up two which go beyond chronicling of the Roman ceremony, and describing the content and scope of the text signed at the Capitol.
Culture is not enough. The first text was by Claudio Magris, author of a book which has become almost mythical, in which he takes us along the Danube and helps us to understand the different countries, populations and civilisations the great river flows through, the landscapes of Europe "which contain centuries of history which have become nature, empires and traditions" (our translation) (oh, those Bavarian tree fellers who take their hat off to every tree they chop down!). He won this year's "Prince of Asturia" literary prize, and in his acceptance speech before the Spanish authorities in Oviedo, said "It is only in a genuinely united Europe that boundaries between its nations and cultures are bridges that unite rather than barriers which divide. We already live in a reality which is no longer national, but European; this unity in fact should become more and more of an institutional reality, even if the road will be strewn with difficulties and momentary setbacks (…). Europe does not mean a levelling out of differences but a choir singing in harmony, in which Oviedo will be no less Asturia, nor Trieste less Italian. Dante said that he learned to love Florence by drinking the water of the Arno, but added that our heritage is the world like the sea is for the fish".
Why do I attach so much importance to these few lines? Because very often the intellectual elite, in Italy and elsewhere, say that culture makes Europe's unity, and are somewhat disdainful of economic Europe (which is too materialistic and not sufficiently idealistic), and institutional Europe (complicated and bureaucratic). However, Claudio Magris recognises the need for institutions, because Europe has previously experienced periods of strong cultural cohesion, but without a political unity and common institutions, it was unable to prevent endless wars between Europeans. I usually quote the opera "Don Giovanni" as an example: a character created by the Spaniard Tirso de Molina, then taken by Molière and disseminated throughout Europe, set to verse in Italian by Da Ponte with the well-known music of Austria's Mozart, and was first shown in Prague: what better symbol can there be of European cultural unity? Yet just a few years later a series of bloody wars broke out which ripped the continent apart until 1815, to start again just a little later. There can be no sustainable peace in Europe without political unity and common institutions.
A new generation which understands Europe. The second text was by a journalist and writer who is highly popular in Italy, Beppe Severgnini, who did a placement with the European Commission in Brussels in 1979 (at the age of 22), and returned to the scenes of his exploits to meet today's 'stagiaires'. They "leave their country, check out Europe and they learn (…). Boys and girls, Italians mixed with cultivated Germans, smiling young Spanish ladies, dark Greeks looking at the blond Dutch girls". Having noted that several of them had taken part in the Erasmus programme as students, Severgnini continues: "They have a pleasing light in their eyes. When they arrive, they are Italians, Swedes, English, and Poles: when they leave, they are Europeans. Make no doubt that these young people will not say anything stupid about the other nations, or feed national prejudice. They can see the differences, but they appreciate them. Placements at the Commission and the Erasmus programme is the best money the European Union spends (…). 25 years later, my best friends are from those evenings in Brussels. Erasmus and placements are incredible instruments against intolerance. There is no point protesting against xenophobia: instead give the idiot a small suitcase and an air ticket. He won't repeat the same mistakes when he comes back. I am writing these things for you and for me, readers. The Brussels 'stagiaires' already know it, and they will keep it in their hearts".
I know Severgnini's right: the new generations have a much better understanding than their elders, who are obsessed by material success and convinced that Europe's unity started out as just an economic undertaking. Sometimes I read, even in the major Italian daily for which Severgnini writes, texts by pretentious intellectuals with no understanding of the European adventure (example: Galli Della Loggia's scribblings on the EU). At the same time, however, I not infrequently meet young ladies and gentlemen who have studied the birth of Europe at university, and who see Jacques Delors as a mythical figure. The breakthrough has been made in the world of students. In the world of work, the main unions toe the line: the pro-European tradition of Emilio Gabaglio is continuing with John Monks. And I have every faith in the debates to be held about the Constitution. They will help people to understand much that appeared for many years to have been forgotten. (F.R.)