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| E.U. Is Turning 60 and Searching for Something to Celebrate | E.U. Is Turning 60 and Searching for Something to Celebrate |
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| LONDON — Sixty years after the treaty that led to its founding, the European Union is under fundamental stress — divided and divergent, anxious that it no longer represents the future but the past, and that it may be incapable of handling the serious challenges of this already-turbulent century. | |
| As European leaders gather in Rome on Saturday to celebrate the anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain will be missing since her country has voted to leave — the most concrete evidence that the European Union is no longer the obvious answer to the Continent’s many challenges. | As European leaders gather in Rome on Saturday to celebrate the anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain will be missing since her country has voted to leave — the most concrete evidence that the European Union is no longer the obvious answer to the Continent’s many challenges. |
| Born 60 years ago in optimism that cooperation in trade would benefit all, the principle binding a union that has expanded from six nations to 28 has been solidarity — that difficulties would be faced together, that cooperation would bring the convergence of politics and economics and “an ever closer union.” | Born 60 years ago in optimism that cooperation in trade would benefit all, the principle binding a union that has expanded from six nations to 28 has been solidarity — that difficulties would be faced together, that cooperation would bring the convergence of politics and economics and “an ever closer union.” |
| But much of that conviction has turned out to be magical thinking. Somewhere along the line, the European Union lost its way. | But much of that conviction has turned out to be magical thinking. Somewhere along the line, the European Union lost its way. |
| Many place the pivotal moment at the crossroads it encountered when the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet empire collapsed. Shortly after, the conversations were all about how to “broaden” by adding new members, as Washington and London wanted, and also “deepen” cooperation through new institutions. The bloc stumbled into trying both, imperiling growth and unity, even as it antagonized Russia. | Many place the pivotal moment at the crossroads it encountered when the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet empire collapsed. Shortly after, the conversations were all about how to “broaden” by adding new members, as Washington and London wanted, and also “deepen” cooperation through new institutions. The bloc stumbled into trying both, imperiling growth and unity, even as it antagonized Russia. |
| “What was at the heart of European values and principles was this simple idea of solidarity, that we would help those countries with difficulties and stick together through challenging times,” said Pierre Vimont, a former French ambassador and senior European Union official. | “What was at the heart of European values and principles was this simple idea of solidarity, that we would help those countries with difficulties and stick together through challenging times,” said Pierre Vimont, a former French ambassador and senior European Union official. |
| “It seems to have gotten lost when we enlarged to the new states of Central and Eastern Europe, and we saw it in our treatment of Greece, too. There is a sense of harshness and division, a lack of solidarity. And if that simple idea is not there anymore, then we’re in big trouble. If we don’t have that, what’s the use of going forward?” | “It seems to have gotten lost when we enlarged to the new states of Central and Eastern Europe, and we saw it in our treatment of Greece, too. There is a sense of harshness and division, a lack of solidarity. And if that simple idea is not there anymore, then we’re in big trouble. If we don’t have that, what’s the use of going forward?” |
| The main question facing the European Union, 60 years later, is one of reinvigoration. How can it recapture the optimism, restore the solidarity and reassure its core members while delivering economic opportunity to its poorer members and to its youth? | The main question facing the European Union, 60 years later, is one of reinvigoration. How can it recapture the optimism, restore the solidarity and reassure its core members while delivering economic opportunity to its poorer members and to its youth? |
| That will not be easy. Today the enlarged European Union is poorer, more diverse and less united than ever. Its troubles are so numerous and structural that they threaten to undo the bloc. | |
| Britain, its second-largest economy and one of two nuclear powers, has voted to leave. The countries of Central Europe are flirting with authoritarianism and Russia. Candidate countries like Turkey and Serbia have lost enthusiasm. Even core countries, like France, Germany and the Netherlands, are dealing with strong populist movements that are fiercely anti-European Union. | |
| For many, the European Union no longer stands for democracy and a better future, but instead a hindrance to national identity and economic opportunity. It has created a powerful transnational bureaucracy that by its nature becomes enamored of bureaucratic solutions, creating an ethos of faceless clerks and late-night crisis meetings of national leaders, most of whom worry more about perceptions at home than solving the problems of their neighbors. | For many, the European Union no longer stands for democracy and a better future, but instead a hindrance to national identity and economic opportunity. It has created a powerful transnational bureaucracy that by its nature becomes enamored of bureaucratic solutions, creating an ethos of faceless clerks and late-night crisis meetings of national leaders, most of whom worry more about perceptions at home than solving the problems of their neighbors. |
| Just this week, Poland and Greece were threatening, at least, to block the Rome Declaration meant to support the bloc’s renewed aspirations. Poland remains concerned the newer members outside the euro will be marginalized in the future, and suggested that the London attacks were linked to lax European Union migration policies. Greece wants more explicit reference to the protection of workers, even as its debt crisis festers. The disunity threatens to weaken Europe’s hand as Brexit negotiations approach next Wednesday. | |
| Not all the problems the bloc faces are of its own making, but they need to be faced nonetheless. Mr. Vimont, now a visiting fellow at Carnegie Europe, sees the new strains as reflective of a more individualistic society, which has also become selfish and nationalistic. | Not all the problems the bloc faces are of its own making, but they need to be faced nonetheless. Mr. Vimont, now a visiting fellow at Carnegie Europe, sees the new strains as reflective of a more individualistic society, which has also become selfish and nationalistic. |
| With the crises of migration, Greece and the British exit, which has been a body blow to the union, and the antagonism of the Polish and Hungarian governments toward migrants and basic freedoms, he said, “there is animosity and a lack of generosity, and a loss of the willingness among countries to find a way out when there is disagreement.” | With the crises of migration, Greece and the British exit, which has been a body blow to the union, and the antagonism of the Polish and Hungarian governments toward migrants and basic freedoms, he said, “there is animosity and a lack of generosity, and a loss of the willingness among countries to find a way out when there is disagreement.” |
| Stefan Lehne, a former senior Austrian diplomat and European Union official, says that 60 years after its founding treaty, the bloc “has lost much of its original appeal.” Writing together with Heather Grabbe, director of the Open Society European Policy Institute, he sees “the European mind closing amid a host of real, exaggerated and imagined fears.” | |
| “We overestimated the transformational effect of the European Union, both in new states but also in the old ones,” Mr. Lehne said in an interview. “And for the euro, too — the economic convergence assumption underlying the euro was flawed. It’s not happening.” | “We overestimated the transformational effect of the European Union, both in new states but also in the old ones,” Mr. Lehne said in an interview. “And for the euro, too — the economic convergence assumption underlying the euro was flawed. It’s not happening.” |
| The strains from enlargement have inevitably changed the bloc, but are unlikely to destroy it, Mr. Lehne said. But the assumption that democracy can be gradually transferred to the European level has also proved to be illusory. | The strains from enlargement have inevitably changed the bloc, but are unlikely to destroy it, Mr. Lehne said. But the assumption that democracy can be gradually transferred to the European level has also proved to be illusory. |
| The democratic deficit and underestimation of the power of identity may be “the biggest flaws in the enterprise,” Mr. Lehne said, especially with the bureaucratization of Brussels. But those are not the only problems, the others being logical tributaries. | The democratic deficit and underestimation of the power of identity may be “the biggest flaws in the enterprise,” Mr. Lehne said, especially with the bureaucratization of Brussels. But those are not the only problems, the others being logical tributaries. |
| Assumptions about the inevitability of a single market, which is a kind of religion for the bloc, as well as a common currency, the euro, were similarly flawed. Commitments to open borders have been outpaced by security challenges in an age of terrorism. The promises of prosperity for all have been undone as globalization sank cherished local industries while buoying bankers on oceans of wealth that flowed across borders. So people cling ever more tightly to sovereignty. | Assumptions about the inevitability of a single market, which is a kind of religion for the bloc, as well as a common currency, the euro, were similarly flawed. Commitments to open borders have been outpaced by security challenges in an age of terrorism. The promises of prosperity for all have been undone as globalization sank cherished local industries while buoying bankers on oceans of wealth that flowed across borders. So people cling ever more tightly to sovereignty. |
| Hubert Védrine, the former French foreign minister, sees Brexit as merely a symptom of these larger problems — the false promises of ever-increasing wealth and quality of life for all of “social Europe, which will never happen.” | Hubert Védrine, the former French foreign minister, sees Brexit as merely a symptom of these larger problems — the false promises of ever-increasing wealth and quality of life for all of “social Europe, which will never happen.” |
| Overregulation of everyday life from unelected bureaucrats, whether it’s bananas or electric vacuum cleaners or light bulbs, is its own problem, too, Mr. Védrine noted, and not something the European Commission, the bloc’s bureaucracy, was intended to do. | Overregulation of everyday life from unelected bureaucrats, whether it’s bananas or electric vacuum cleaners or light bulbs, is its own problem, too, Mr. Védrine noted, and not something the European Commission, the bloc’s bureaucracy, was intended to do. |
| Now there is “an electoral insurrection” against globalism, in both Europe and the United States, and unhappiness with “a European system that wishes to continue endlessly, that does not listen, that does not wish to correct anything, that takes no vote into consideration, and if there is a referendum that does not give the desired result, there is a new one presented,” Mr. Védrine said. | Now there is “an electoral insurrection” against globalism, in both Europe and the United States, and unhappiness with “a European system that wishes to continue endlessly, that does not listen, that does not wish to correct anything, that takes no vote into consideration, and if there is a referendum that does not give the desired result, there is a new one presented,” Mr. Védrine said. |
| “If we do not manage to correct the system,” he added, “the European project will end.” | “If we do not manage to correct the system,” he added, “the European project will end.” |
| Mr. Védrine cautions not to overly focus on the far right. “There are a lot of people who disagree with what Europe has become, and they are not for Marine Le Pen and the National Front,” he said. | Mr. Védrine cautions not to overly focus on the far right. “There are a lot of people who disagree with what Europe has become, and they are not for Marine Le Pen and the National Front,” he said. |
| But he, like many, see a new flexibility and a new tolerance for a multispeed or multitier Europe as the best way of retaining cohesion, rather than pushing all members to fit into the same structures — the euro being the most obvious example. | But he, like many, see a new flexibility and a new tolerance for a multispeed or multitier Europe as the best way of retaining cohesion, rather than pushing all members to fit into the same structures — the euro being the most obvious example. |
| But even if the competing needs of E.U. members can be finessed, the external pressures on the bloc are mounting, too, not least from Russia and the Trump administration, which seems to tolerate NATO while disparaging the multilateral model that is the European Union. | |
| The European project is troubled by uncertainty, with the disruption of Brexit underestimated, Russia poking at democratic unity and “this huge question mark” from Washington, said Stefano Stefanini, a former Italian ambassador who is a consultant in Brussels. | The European project is troubled by uncertainty, with the disruption of Brexit underestimated, Russia poking at democratic unity and “this huge question mark” from Washington, said Stefano Stefanini, a former Italian ambassador who is a consultant in Brussels. |
| “The West is fighting among itself while competitors like China, Russia and Turkey are rising,” he said. | “The West is fighting among itself while competitors like China, Russia and Turkey are rising,” he said. |
| Both Mr. Stefanini and Simon Tilford, the deputy director of the Center for European Reform, are struck by the complacency in Brussels, with rhetoric about the possibility of a multtier Europe lagging far behind the reality of division and competition. | |
| “In Brussels, they see a couple of quarters of economic growth as a sign that everything is well,” Mr. Tilford said. “The first sign of relative improvement is an excuse to sound defensive and complacent.” | “In Brussels, they see a couple of quarters of economic growth as a sign that everything is well,” Mr. Tilford said. “The first sign of relative improvement is an excuse to sound defensive and complacent.” |
| “But can you return some powers to member states without abandoning the core project?” Mr. Tilford asked. “Can European identity be reconciled with large amounts of migration?” | “But can you return some powers to member states without abandoning the core project?” Mr. Tilford asked. “Can European identity be reconciled with large amounts of migration?” |
| Rosy as the declarations on Saturday in Rome are likely to be, they will not provide those answers. | Rosy as the declarations on Saturday in Rome are likely to be, they will not provide those answers. |