The Union of
European States is necessary, opportune, and feasible. It is required to face
global group competition. It is opportune because crises must be treated as
opportunities. It is achievable because raising and publicly discussing the
topic generates autocatalytic effects that favor the integration process until
the federal solution is institutionalized.
There are no
serious counterarguments regarding the necessity. After two world wars, the
current geopolitical situation and the looming crises, such as the water
crisis, make it evident that a critical mass greater than any state can muster
will be needed. That is why the topic is not even discussed much; it is so apparent
that it is in the interest of nations to formalize national identity together
with the European one that it would generate frustration and dissatisfaction.
The opportunity is
not so much in degraded relations with global powers as in the decline of
progressive ideology. No one would accept a ridiculous Union of European
States, a left-wing empire, just as no right-wing one would be interesting to
anyone. But a trans-ideological one would be exciting, in which the integrating
structure of institutions would not know in advance which parties it would vote
for. So far, it has not been like this; the very structure of the EU has been
left-wing, and resources have been wasted on projects irrelevant to European
identity. The US is delivering to the EU states the service of eroding the
dominant ideology of its political infrastructure, and this is a massive
opportunity for institutional evolution.
The feasibility is
evident from this very text. Has anyone ever seen a bottom-up civic voice in
favor of such a project? The fact that it exists signals the existence of the
European space for free deliberation. Seeds of this kind will bear fruit and
create a less favorable soil for the plants of xenophobia and narrow visions.
All politicians and states look at the climate of opinion. When such opinions
are expressed, they may be in the minority, but they change the landscape.
The threat of the EU and its associated public services disappearing is not
addressed by defending the current institutions, because that only validates
the narrative of those who want to destroy them. It is answered by supporting
the Union of European States. Then the current EU becomes central to the
landscape of public debates, no longer on the defensive and no longer subject
to erosion, only to the pressure of evolution in one direction or another,
towards greater integration, or towards disappearance.
Which system of institutions will choose extinction? Perhaps some will look
so narrowly that they will. Then, power will be taken by those who will pursue
their own common interests. This is what we are talking about: the Union of
European States is for Europeans, not a new bureaucratic scheme.
"In this
world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world"
(John, 16:33).
