The Federation of nation States … In his "lectio magistralis", which opened the academic year 2005-2006 at the European College of Parma, Jacques Delors listed the elements which are, in his opinion, necessary for the relaunch of Europe. Amongst other things, he defended a few partially novel ideas, or at least which are not universally shared, such as: a) the economic and monetary union should constitute the first incidence of "reinforced cooperation" between the countries of the euro zone; b) tax competition between the States represents "the most perverse attack against Europe"; c) international free trade does not, in itself, lead to progress on the part of all of the people; d) agriculture is not an activity like any other (see this column in bulletin 9109). He then went on to sketch out the structure that the new, improved EU should take on.
The "Federation of nation States" formula as a way of defining the nature of the EU is, these days, broadly acknowledged. It covers not only respect for the identity of the States which make it up, but also: a) equality between the countries, which does not mean the equality of voting quotas, but a "code of behaviour"; b) the law as an essential element of communal existence. As for institutional functioning, it is absolutely vital for the Council/Parliament/Commission triangle to work perfectly once again. According to Jacques Delors, "since this triangle stopped working, the European Council has tended to take care of everything, in an inter-governmental atmosphere. The heads of government allow themselves to be swept along by an absence of preparation, and they prepare press releases of between 30 and 40 pages, even if they have not decided on anything". The institutions must not forget two imperatives: to be "the inventors of simplicity" (which is one of the essential recipes to breathe new life into democracy) and to "respect subsidiarity", by which is meant the balance between the competencies of the EU and those of the States which make it up. And we must not confuse the nations with nationalism: "getting rid of the nations has never been any part of my plan", explained Jacques Delors.
… and the indispensable differentiation. Alongside the notion of a federation of nation States, the second fundamental principle is that of "differentiation", which means recognising that the Member States cannot all take part in all projects, all at the same time. Jacques Delors used a very well-known example of this: if we had had to wait for all the Member States to agree, the euro would not exist. Only differentiation will allow a reconciliation between enlargement and the necessary deepening. It may take the form of "transition periods" (granted to those countries which are not yet ready to take part in a specific project), or "reinforced cooperations". Jacques Delors is not unaware that the idea of differentiation has been rejected by certain countries: "the new Member States are absolutely against it, as I became aware during my recent meetings with Polish and Czech ministers". To borrow a metaphor from the world of football, they seem to have the impression that they are being asked to play in a second league, rather than the Premiership. He, however, rejects this interpretation: "this is not at all the case! Just because reinforced cooperation is set up in a certain field does not mean that we would be able to dispense with applying the rules of the marriage contract between all the Member States. It must, as a matter of urgency, be explained that without differentiation, we would not be able to make progress, to make the best use of innovations, to go further without hindering the others. Reinforced cooperations would remain open to all those who would like to take part in them, and are in a position to do so".
A basis which is identical for all. The "general marriage contract " linking all the Member States will, in any case, represent the foundation of the building, with its three objectives:
Peace and mutual recognition between the countries and the people. This is as obvious as it is essential.
A framework for sustainable development based on solidarity. Within this framework, the golden rule must be the triptych on which Jacques Delors has always insisted: competition which stimulates, cooperation which reinforces, solidarity which unites. The conception of a cohesion policy consisting of nothing more than a cheque made out to the countries lagging behind must be rejected. We must maintain and reinforce the partnership between the European Union, the States and the regions: "why are so many regions interested in Europe? Because they draw benefit not only from its funding, but also from this partnership with the European institutions and between the regions themselves. It is essential in order to shore up and enrich the European spirit".
The respect and enrichment of cultural diversity and the national identities.
Jacques Delors is convinced that if these three objectives are achieved between now and 2020, "the historians will say that Europe's bet paid off and enabled it to get to grips with some of the problems of globalisation. But if we want to do it all at the same time, we will not succeed! All we would do would be to multiply the effects of announcements which are not followed up".
(F.R.)