Whither Europe?

With the Ireland No, it might be time for the European Union to make some changes. And then along comes a referendum over a treaty that is too complicated to be understood. The citizens sense that they are being patronised. Once again, they are to ratify something in the making of which they were not involved. The purpose of the Lisbon Treaty was to finally achieve the organisational reform intended, but not completed, by the 2001 European Summit in Nice8230;

These new conflicts and tensions cannot be addressed by European governing bodies in the manner to which they have become accustomed. After the failure of the proposed European constitution in 2005, the Lisbon Treaty represented a bureaucratically negotiated compromise to be pushed through behind the backs of the citizenry. The predicament is even worse today8230; it is perhaps time to realise that, for European unity to deepen, Brussels must shift to a more participatory style of democracy. The failed referendums are a signal that the elitist mode of European unification is reaching its limits. These limits can only be surmounted if the pro-European elites stop excusing themselves from the principle of representation and shed their fears of contact with the electorate. The divide between the political decision-making authority granted to the EU and the nation state-bound opportunities provided by participatory democracy has become too large.

The governments8217; embarrassed silence over Europe8217;s future conceals the fundamental conflict raging over the bloc8217;s direction, a debate which robs European unification of its vision and appeal. Should Europe become a pro-active force, shaping policy at home and playing a greater role abroad? Or should its role focus more on ongoing expansion, thus encouraging improvements within neighbouring countries that seek to join? The price of this diffuse expansion project is a lack of political leverage in a global society that, while economically tightly knit, has been drifting apart politically since 2001. One only has to look at the miserable images of petty princes Gordon Brown, Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel, as they kowtow to US President George W. Bush, to realise that Europe is bidding adieu to the world stage.

Excerpted from an article by Juuml;rgen Habermas in 8216;Der Spiegel8217;