The EU wants to penalize some member states for their national decisions that lack “European values” – whatever these may be. These national decisions were made by a parliamentary majority and should thus be considered as democratic. Both countries retaliated by vetoing the 2021-2027 EU budget. The main issue at stake is the erosion of the national rule of law.
To be very clear, I’m not a supporter of the governments of Hungary or Poland. Nevertheless, this European arrogance of fighting democratic national decisions is (very) dangerous. What is next? Bullfighting in Spain? Quail shooting? Fox hunting? Monarchies? Sinterklaas in Belgium and the Netherlands? Will leaving the EU soon be against its values?
I was a supporter of a Federal Republic of Europe but my enthusiasm has gone. Today, I see the disadvantages of centralizing (eg, European) power. Power has a habit of removing checks & balances (eg, rule of law). Centralized (EU) power is even more dangerous than decentralized power (in European member states). To quote John Dalberg-Acton (1834-1902):
“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
Moreover, the EU has an inherent conflict between identity versus power. Example: the EU has 27 member states speaking 24 languages (Wiki). By definition, language is about identity. I fail to see how English – let alone French – could become the European language. China shows us the resistance of oppressing regional cultures and languages (eg, BI, CNN, FP, FT, source).
The inherent European conflict between identity vs power is currently most visible in the approach towards the coronavirus. A collective lockdown in southern Europe (ie, power) versus individual freedom in Sweden (ie, identity). The recent EU plan for centralizing the coronavirus approach is likely to become a race to the bottom (my recent blog).
For several decades, the American conflict between (national) identity (eg, blue vs red states, English vs Spanish, coastal regions vs rest of USA) versus (federal) power (eg, economy, military, technology) has been boiling. A Federal Republic of Europe would show even more conflict than USA as 24 European cultures and languages would have to be added to identity.
Perhaps the lack of a political union in Europe wasn’t a design flaw after all. Perhaps, the strength of any union lies in its outward collective strength rather than its inward divisive integration.
Some Like It Hot (1985) The Power Station
artists, lyrics, video, Wiki-1, Wiki-2
We want to multiply, are you gonna do it?
I know you qualify, are you gonna do it?
Note: all markings (bold, italic, underlining) by LO unless stated otherwise.
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