The Pink Fishes, a platform for reflection of Christians on the left, have always shown a strong attachment to the European project, asking in 2016 to better define European projects, more subsidiarity, transparency of debates at the European Council and a parliament of the euro zone (1). Our institutional target is a European federal community and our method, the “democratic revolution”, is based on common projects, centered on the human person dear to the philosopher Emmanuel Mounier. We are always gripped by the urgency to move forward on ecology, migration, and the place of work in our model of society.
Since that date, serious events have affected Europe: Covid; recent conflicts raised in the agricultural world, particularly by the “green deal”; the anachronistic war launched by Russia in Ukraine, that is to say on the margins of the European Union; the continuation of migratory flows with their attendant horrors but leading to the adoption at the last minute of the Pact on Migration and Asylum.
2024 European program: what the main lists offer
Under these conditions, a debate on the emergence of a powerful Europe has begun. If Europe must indeed equip itself with the military power necessary to defend itself and gain respect, it must not forget that some of its members have, in the past, widely used and abused power, to the point that the continent was the trigger for two world wars. Also, this new power must, more than ever, be put at the service of peace, in the spirit which prevailed in Franco-German reconciliation and the emergence of this Union based on law and equity. More than ever, Europe must have the ambition to uphold human rights, democracy, the rule of law, and preserve the security of its nationals.
The risk of blocking
The elections of June 9 could renew the European Parliament for the better but also for the worse: blocking of the Union because the Parliament is co-legislator; formation of majorities between conservatives and the far right expanding everywhere. We would like to draw attention to three issues.
First subject, social Europe remains broken down. A “Community Charter of Fundamental Social Rights for Workers” was signed in 1989 and two social summits were held in 2017 in Gothenburg then in 2021 in Porto. Certainly, thanks to the Union, the regulations applicable to posted workers were adopted in 2018, in 2022 a specific directive on the minimum wage and, very recently, an agreement relating to the protection of workers working on online platforms. The La Hulpe declaration on the future of social Europe, signed on April 16, 2024, reaffirms the importance of the European Pillar of Social Rights as a compass for the future of social Europe.
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But the social aspect most often serves as a support for the economic aspect while the Europe of solidarity remains to be built. This will only be possible if Europe regulates its market economy more strictly, safeguards its public services, protects its nationals and its businesses from wild competition from countries outside Europe which do not respect ethical, social or environmental standards.
A foil
The second subject overlaps with this concern of the European peoples. Europe, hoped for, desired, has become illegible for most Europeans, who do not understand how it works, misunderstand its institutions and are going through a crisis of disenchantment. However, recent dramatic events have restored the European image, and the popularity of European institutions has risen. Europe, however, remains distant. It is often used by our leaders as a foil and then seen by our fellow citizens as a bureaucratic and normative set, more of a constraint than a help. The people of Europe consider that they have hardly received any dividends from prosperity and none from deregulation. It’s time to really take it into consideration.
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Finally, we would like to draw attention to a little-known but essential subject: the financial resources of the Union. We know that a multiannual financial framework is adopted every seven years. To the 1,000 billion validated was added the envelope of 750 billion committed under the NextGenerationEU initiative. These volumes, however, remain limited to a little more than 1% of the Union’s gross national income. In 2021, the Commission proposed using new own resources: a tax linked to the CO2 emissions trading system, a carbon tax at the Union’s borders, a tax on financial transactions and a tax profits of multinationals. In the open international competition with the United States and China, in the ongoing security confrontation with Russia, the Union needs more of its own resources.
The Pink Fishes reaffirm their confidence in European construction, the only possible path for “preserve our common interests, promote the values of our civilization and preserve our national identities”, as we wrote in 2016. Today, even more than yesterday, to be patriotic is to be European. May the voice of the people and citizens of all our countries be, collectively, better listened to and their daily living conditions better taken into account.
