Europe is listening but what does it hear?
We are halfway through another significant year for "Europe". In March there were celebrations for its 50th birthday and a few short weeks ago EU leaders agreed a package of institutional reforms. In the past 50 years achievements improvements and successes have been both numerous and tangible. The Union is now wider and deeper; and as our core business is to listen to Europeans we know that this is too much for some while not enough for others.
Since the advent of the Union the political elites and citizens of the Member States are continuously re-negotiating the risks involved in giving up certain aspects of their hard-won national sovereignty in return for real or perceived benefits. This on-going cooperation and negotiation is transforming the historical relationships between Member States. The result is a new framework that must adapt to a world where segmented markets and communities find it hard to cope with the many cultural and economic challenges.
Eurobarometer allows us to listen to the citizens voices collected over the past 30-odd years. We therefore know that Europeans have been learning to live with each other sharing common goals and values as well as continuing to enjoy the essential differences that make each Member State unique. The end result is that significant segments of European citizens foresee a prosperous and peaceful future while a majority of people in most countries identify themselves primarily as Europeans. But we also see that the public perceives the issues differently from the political elite this in turn challenges policy-makers when translating citizens. needs and views into policies at the community level. Climate change and the need to secure energy supplies demand creative and innovative answers in order to deal with the security and safety needs of EU citizens. A new social contract between the EU citizens and the governance of Europe is expected. It must be better aligned with the public.s priorities: policy answers on how far Europe can provide meaningful jobs together with a security strategy that preserves the core cultural identities against internal and external challenges in a demographically declining situation.
The Union's 50 years has been a period of uneven progress and this is likely to continue. Even though the institutional reforms have been agreed in principle there is still work to be done at the Inter-Governmental Conference and beyond. The EU.s leaders must take into account those many .birthday wishes. and the myriad of personal views expressed by a representative cross-section of the 27 national communities. They cannot be ignored.
