A slap in the face for the ‘half-hearted’ pro-Europeans

The State of the Union address is one of those ritual occasions in which every President of the European Commission knows they must follow a precise script made up of recurring themes and predictable refrains. You know the tune: Europe is growing, its enemies are dangerous, Euroscepticism must be combated, nationalism must be curbed, and democracies must be defended against all their enemies. All true and all perfect, starting – as Ursula von der Leyen did yesterday – with a reminder of how support for Ukraine is today the real litmus test for understanding who cares about Europe’s future and who does not, and beginning with the assertion that the European Union must open up, open up, open up and capitalise on Trump’s aggression towards its allies to transform the European Union into a magnet for anyone who cares about defending freedom (this applies to free trade agreements, which Europe has stepped up, and it also applies to special partnerships, such as the one announced yesterday with Canada, which is set to become the EU’s first associate member).

However, yesterday’s speech by von der Leyen contained an unprecedented and interesting element concerning a critique that goes beyond the usual – and justified – rebuke of irresponsible populists and the Trojan horses of Putinism. Von der Leyen pointed out yesterday that amongst those who bear significant responsibility for making Europe less attractive, less efficient and less dynamic than it could be are the half-hearted pro-Europeans. The Commission President does not call them that, but the picture is clear. “Do we want to allow ourselves to be held back by divisions and dependencies?”, she asks. Do we want to admit once and for all that “no country can go it alone”, that here “we continue to fragment capital, networks and purchasing power”, that all institutions must “act more swiftly”? that “the Union’s doctrine, institutions and decision-making process have not evolved in step with the new reality” and that “the time has come for the Member States to step in”? The message is all too clear. One cannot be pro-European in the abstract and then fail to be so when integration affects national interests. One cannot fight against bureaucracy in Brussels and then recreate part of that bureaucracy at national level. One cannot think of defending Europe from Russian threats without realising that incursions into our airspace are part of a single strategy that is pushing Europe to take a quantum leap forward in protecting its borders.

To make Europe work, as summarised in von der Leyen’s speech, “the time has come for Member States to take action”. And to get Member States to take action, we might add, we need to understand that Europe works (a) when it manages to operate at two speeds, and operating at two speeds means accepting that Europe can make decisions without being held hostage to unanimity, as happens, for example, when it comes to trade, and (b) when it chooses not to stop halfway in its defence of freedom (one cannot be pleased with the special agreement with Canada and then fail to complete the ratification process for the free trade agreements with Canada – namely CETA – and this applies to you too, dear Italy). Populists are dangerous, nationalists are menacing, Putinists are ruinous, but in Europe’s future, a further short-term threat is posed by half-hearted pro-Europeans, who, despite being able to change Europe, choose not to do so, driven by the false belief that populism can be combated half-heartedly, without challenging it head-on, without overcoming national jealousies and without setting aside the dangerous notion that Europe is only useful when it comes in the form of a cash machine.