Published Friday, October 26, 2007 at 16:50
by
PESactivist 
in European democracy & diversity (1147 views and 3 comments)
The birth, development and maturity of the European Union has frequently been marked by the periods of ups and downs, occasional shortfalls and crises in political, economic and social spheres, yet Europe remained “TöGEthe® since 1957!”
Truth be told, Europe was divided and apart since 2005 when it went into doldrums over the Constitutional Treaty and it took two years of collective effort from politicians to put Europe back on track, and it will take even more time to repair the damage inflicted on the social approval of Europe, solidarity and public interest in the Union.
Nevertheless, the Lisbon Summit earlier last week marks the beginning of the end of the recent crisis. Neither British nor Polish opt-outs from the Charter of Fundamental Rights, or Poland's insistence to include 'Ioannina clause' making it possible to delay decisions in the Council, or even the number of "red lines" from the UK on cooperation in justice and home affairs will loosen the bounds among EU-27.
"Europe - but that's abroad!" a constituent once told Fred Tuckman MEP...
read morePublished Tuesday, October 2, 2007 at 10:43
by
Editor
in EU in the world (1082 views and 2 comments)
It is hardly controversial to point out that the UN Security Council is a post WWII construction that does not reflect today’s realities. But are we really ready for change? Can we accept one EU seat? That would be consistent with a Common Foreign and Security Policy, but it would also mean UK and France losing their own seats in the long run.
And it is not just a question of who sits on the Council. There is the veto which allows any one permanent member to stop any UN security or peace initiative. More importantly, could the UN play a bigger and more decisive military role in peace keeping – and resolving conflicts before they escalate into violence? The EU recognizes the UN’s primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security – so why not give it some teeth, some real powers?
Perhaps we should first push the EU to develop a real Foreign and Security policy before being overly ambitious about the UN? On the other hand why not recognize that UK and France, and all other European countries, are no longer world powers, and that the best hope for real European influence would be to press ahead simultaneously with the EU Foreign and Security Policy and a joint role in the UN Security Council?
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