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Friends of Federalism
New EU member states could soon rank among the most active advocates of the federal idea of political integration.
The idea of creating a multistate political union has been alive in Western European states for many years. In fact, the ideas of Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi, Aristide Briand and others date back more than seven decades. And Winston Churchill himself called for the creation of the United States of Europe.
In recent years, of course, the idea has come back and now there are serious proposals for "enhanced cooperation" in a number of spheres, including the most fragile ones such as military, foreign affairs and taxation. Moreover, last year Le Monde called for creation of a Franco-German state. The conclusion is clear: Federalism is on the agenda.
What does Central Europe think of it?
It seems the core of this new emerging political union would be the six European nations that founded the European Communities back in the 1950s. The problems are that (a) those countries are not quite yet convinced themselves if they want a political union and (b) if so, they're unsure if it should be done within the scope of the European Union.
The answer to the first question is becoming, slowly but gradually, more and more positive. There is no doubt that France, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and, to a lesser degree, Italy and the Netherlands are aiming at a political union. The question as to whether the political entity should be created on the basis of the European Union or elsewhere remains open.
One of the key questions is this: Are the new EU states, coming mostly from Central and Eastern Europe, ready to contribute to this federal idea of political integration of the European continent?
My conviction is that the Central European states will not object to the political integration of Europe. Moreover, I think that in a few years, they can become one of the most active advocates of the idea.
What the Central European societies desired during the Cold War years was to be reunited with the rest of the Continent. Due to the agreements coming out of Yalta and the political situation in the world, this was not possible. Once these countries achieved freedom in 1989 and 1990, however, they immediately began catching up with Western societies in every field and every sector of life, from building a market-based economy to administrative reforms, from social reforms to learning the costs and benefits of liberty. In this massive process of socioeconomic change initiated in the late 1980s and early 1990s, they proved to be very successful. Today, the Czech Republic and the other states that joined the EU May 1 are stable democracies with free market economies that respect human rights -- all of which seemed unimaginable only 16 years ago.
Catching up
Central Europeans undertook an enormous effort; in doing so they have used each great nation's potential to implement change. They have changed and they keep on changing. As a matter of fact, they are evolving much faster than any Western European societies, both on the economic and social scales. On the social level, at the beginning of the 1990s, Poland was often compared to Spain in the 1950s. The Poland of the mid-1990s was in a similar situation to France in the 1960s. By the end of the last decade, Poland's social situation was comparable to the Spanish one of the late 1970s. Today, with unemployment reaching 20 percent, it is often compared to the Spain of the late 1980s and the early 1990s.
On a political institutional level and in terms of democratic stability, the Central European states caught up very fast and, with few exceptions, reached the Western European level by the mid-1990s.
As for European political integration, they will only now start to catch up after enlargement because before May 1 they had not been given a chance to experience voluntary political integration for centuries. What they had learned from the modern past was that such integration can be only enforced by a stronger power. It is still feared by some of the new European citizens that the European integration project will be, as the Soviet one once was, introduced by force. This is a signal to the leaders of the Western states, in particular Germany and France, to be very careful in their relations with those states, including Poland and the Czech Republic, so as not to alienate them from European integration.
In less than two decades, Central Europe has experienced the evolution that took Western European states more than 60 years. At this rate, in the years to come they will reach the same level as Western European societies. All they need now is to gain a few years' experience in the EU to learn that it is, indeed, "a good thing." They need to learn by themselves that the EU does not seek to dominate anyone or to create wars against the smaller or less powerful. The new European citizens will also see the costs of European integration are minor compared to the benefits it brings.
Once the societies of Central Europe see that deeper political integration is needed for even more benefits, they will be in favor of the very idea of deepening the union. Yet today, not that long after enlargement, no one in Western Europea should expect the new countries to be strong supporters of a political union from day one after the enlargement, since their societies do not yet know what it would mean and why it would be a better system than nation states.
Having said that, and taking into consideration all the political, social and economic developments of the new EU member states over the past 15 years and their fast evolution, I would risk saying that five to 10 years from today they will be more in favor of a federal Europe than the Western European societies themselves. They may even take the initiative and become pioneers in building a true Union of Europe.
Don't wait, work
But does this mean waiting when you do not want to? Not at all. For those who seek political union in today's Europe, my advice is not to wait but work. Convince your own societies that a politically united Europe is a better thing: It would be more efficient inside and more powerful outside. Make federalism a topic discussed all over the Continent. Tell entire societies about your plans and actions. Mobilize everyone. Keep long discussions short: Act.
So I return to my original question: Are Central Europeans for or against a politically united Europe? Today they are undecided and still need to be convinced. Yet they will listen carefully to both sides' arguments. Why? Because they, as much as everyone else on the Continent, are concerned about Europe's future. Therefore, if federalism is truly the answer to European challenges, they will be supportive. Then the correct question would rather be what kind of federation do we want to have?
(Source: http://www.praguepost.com/P03/2004/Art/0812/opin1.php)
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