Aachen, 29/05/2006 (Agence Europe) - “We need this Constitution (or this basic law). The Constitution is not dead and I will continue to fight to keep it safe for the 2009 European elections. Without a Constitution, without a social dimension, the European Union will gradually, without our even noticing, become a free-trade area. If, over the next ten years, we do not manage to build a successful economic edifice and particularly a social union, and to defeat large-scale unemployment, Europe will have failed. We need a minimum set of workers' rights.” That was the warning given by Luxemburg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker at Aachen on 25 May, as he received the Charlemagne Award, the European award par excellence (when, in a recent interview, he doubted that a solution to the EU Constitutional issue would be found before 2010: see EUROPE 9194). With his sincerity, his commitment and his fieriness, Mr Juncker captivated the audience, which applauded him several times: if we are in crisis, if citizens complain about Europe instead of acknowledging all that it brings them, it is because their leaders so easily run down the European Union (except in their “Sunday-best” speeches), because the reasons for being proud of it no longer exist, he said, quoting several examples. The issue of “war and peace: why have we become so ungrateful to our fathers and grandfathers who, collectively, were wise enough to bring peace to our continent that had suffered so much?” he exclaimed, going on to say that “visits to military cemeteries should be made compulsory for schools” so that young people do not forget the past. It was the same for the enlargement of the EU towards the East. To those who were afraid of this enlargement, Mr Juncker said, “I belong to a generation which grew up in fear of Russian missiles, and now, the citizens of that part of Europe are no longer subject to history, they make it themselves, whole peoples have become the architects of history and have joined us”. He remembered the 1st May 2004 in Dublin, when the new Member States were welcomed into the EU: “That day marked the definitive victory of civilisation over the folly of Stalin and Hitler”. Another success story that the political classes do not defend properly was the euro. No one could believe it “especially not among German professors”, ironically commented Mr Juncker, who is also president of the Eurogroupe - and yet it happened. “Looking at the list of those who attended the Maastricht Summit, the only survivors are the euro and I,” he joked. While acknowledging that EMU was not yet complete and that its economic arm had to be strengthened, he called to the politicians, “why are we so reticent about explaining where we would be without the solidarity, without the corrective discipline that the euro brings? Without the euro, what would have happened after 9-11, after Iraq, after the financial crises in Latin America and Asia, and after the French and Dutch 'no' to the European Constitution? Why do we not explain to people that the euro is protecting us?” He warned those who liked to complain about the cost of Europe: “one month of war is more expensive than twenty years of the European Union”. And he added, “Europe also has to accept its responsibilities in the world, Europe has a mission in the world, it is not there only for Europe”.
On the institutional level, Mr Juncker argued for the Community method, with the Parliament and the Council as joint-legislators and with a Commission President, who must be inspirational, not someone who carries out the dictates of governments. He did not think that the idea of a “hardcore of States” was a fruitful one for the future: he thought that we had to begin by setting aims and objectives together, adding, “Those in the vanguard often do not know where they want to go, but they want to get there first”.
Mr Juncker was particularly warmly welcomed by former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl (Gerhard Schroeder was present too, as were former award winners Valéry Giscard-d'Estaing, Simone Veil, Jean-Claude Trichet, Bronislaw Geremek, Leo Tindemans, Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria-Theresa who received the Charlemagne Award on behalf of the people of Luxemburg in 1986, Jacques Santer, Joseph Borrell and Günther Verheugen, and Viviane Reding). “What you say, you do, an extremely rare quality,” Mr Kohl told his former colleague and old friend. “You are a realistic optimist, another rare quality. And you know how to laugh,” he continued, concluding, “You really deserve this award. Europe is lucky that you are there”.
The Mayor of Aachen, Jurgen Linden, said that Jean-Claude Juncker had been the only politician to put his political career at risk at the time of the referendum on the European constitution shortly after the French and Dutch no votes. He said the EU needed politicians like Juncker, who personify an economically modern EU and EU social values. Jean-Claude Juncker was minister for social affairs for 28 years in the government of Pierre Werner, one of the 'fathers' of monetary union, before being appointed minister in the Santer government. He was appointed prime minister at the age of 41.