The future of the European Union: think “greige”!
José M. de Areilza
December 15, 2009
Yesterday we inaugurated the new Center for European Studies at IE University –today we will celebrate its first seminar. Josep Borrell, former President of the European Parliament and new President of the European University Institute in Florece, gave the keynote speech. He had intended to dwell on the recent history of Europe, but once he saw the audience, composed of academics, seasoned EU lawyers, diplomats, judges and economists, he decided to take a risk and discuss the possible futures of European integration. In one of the most brilliant speeches on this topic I have heard –and I have been through some hundreds of them- he outlined different scenarios, based on of the evolution of the internal market and the euro, the two foundational elements of the process.
In what he described as a pink future, utopian and impossible to attain, he proposed new basic pacts to move towards higher fiscal and social harmonization in the EU, to re-write the stability Pact with a broader reach plus a redefinition of the role of the ECB and to increase the EU Budget up to 2-4% of EU GDP.
These proposals, he admitted, were not likely to go through, in part because they entailed new EU Treaty reform, something clearly ruled out for a good number of years in EU 27. So he presented, as a realistic “grey” alternative, a minimalist set of measures to cope with the present EU malaise and at least put a stop to re-nationalization of EU policies. This would at least ensure a future better that the dark scenario of possible collapse of the integration process, if economic integration is not coupled with more political and social integration. We listened with admiration to his analysis and wondered how to turn this not so bad “grey” future into a “greige” future, the colour created by fashion designer Giorgio Armani, a combination of grey and beige, that hints a bit of optimism.
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Dear Mr. Alreiza,
I am a total law student and was reading your post about Mr. Josep Borrell’s keynote speech at IE university. Is there a way to read and listen to it, too? Maybe he has put his ideas on paper in some article you know? It would be interesting to dig further.
Best regards,
katharina
Comment by Katharina — January 7, 2010 @ 3:45 pm