In their new book, ‘For Europe’, Guy Verhofstadt and Daniel Cohn-Bendit outline a manifesto for the creation of a fully federal Europe, complete with a new European constitution. In an interview with EUROPP editors Chris Gilson and Stuart A Brown, they discuss their manifesto, arguing that the current eurozone crisis leaves EU Member States with no alternative but to pursue closer integratio

Cohn-Bendit, Daniel

Verhofstadt, Guy

English

LSE Research Online

blo gs.lse.ac.uk http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2012/10/04/five-minutes-with-guy-verhofstadt-daniel-cohn-bendit/Five minutes with Guy Verhofstadt, President of the ALDEGroup and Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Co-President of theGreens/European Free Alliance – “There is no alternative to afederal Europe”by Blog AdminIn their new book, ‘For Europe’, Guy Verhofstadt and Daniel Cohn-Bendit  outline amanifesto for the creation of a fully federal Europe, complete with a new Europeanconstitution. In an interview with EUROPP editors Chris Gilson and Stuart A Brown, theydiscuss their manifesto, arguing that the current eurozone crisis leaves EU Member Stateswith no alternative but to pursue closer integration. Many commentators speak of a ‘democratic deficit ’ in the EU today. Do you thinkthat this is the case? If  there is any ‘democratic def icit ’ it  exists in the Council – the most opaque of  EUinstitutions where Member State representatives usually vote behind closed doors, rarelyexplain their decisions or justif y them back home but are happy to let ‘Brussels’ take theblame in national media f or unpopular or misunderstood init iatives, omitt ing to mention thekey role they play in the decision-taking and back-room deals. The European Parliament isdirectly elected and no less legit imate than any national parliament. If  anything, it is nottaken seriously enough by voters or governments who underestimate its role and duty to scrutinise alllegislation in f ull public view. There is scope f or Member State parliaments to take more interest in what theEU is doing and in appreciating that a number of  policy issues nowadays cannot be viewed solely through anational prism. The European Commissioners themselves are appointed by Member States and theref orelack the direct polit ical legit imacy that comes f rom election, but they do not f orm the EU’s legislature but arethe executive body, accountable to the Parliament and Council. The election of  the President of  theCommission f rom European party lists however could improve both voter turnout and legit imacy.  Do you think that a federal Europe would help to solve the current crisis in the eurozone? Not only will it  help, but there is no alternative. All other options have been exhausted over the past threeyears and to no avail. The intergovernmental approach, where unanimity rules, has been utterly discreditedby the f inancial crisis and shown up the lacunae in current economic governance structures. There hasbeen a slow and belated recognition that the EU needs to complete economic and monetary union byreinf orcing the building blocks through the creation of  a genuine banking and f iscal union, leading to f ullblown economic and polit ical union. The response to the f inancial crisis needs to be a comprehensive onethat encompasses both solidarity and the transf er of  sovereignty if  the eurozone is to hold together. Thisrequires such elements as a common deposit guarantee f und, recapitalisation f und and the partialmutualisation of  debt. Without them, the markets will continue to pick the eurozone apart piece by piece.Abandoning Greece to its own devices may be tempting but would be catastrophic f or the credibility of  theremaining members, undermining the very essence of  a single currency zone underpinned by the collectiveeconomic and polit ical will. Do you think that Europe’s cit izens support the idea of a federal Europe? Many may not be aware of  it as an option. For the moment the choice is the uncomf ortable and unworkablestatus quo or dissolution of  the current European Union and a return to an era of  nationalism and inter-state rivalry. It is necessary to outline how a f ederal Europe might look in the f uture and then to persuadepolit icians and public opinion that it of f ers better prospects than the alternatives. Support f or more f iscalintegration is popular in Germany if  it  means that all countries will play by the rules. Even Greeks remainoverwhelmingly in f avour of  remaining inside the euro, despite all they have been through. Federalism usedto be understood as a way to avoid war and a pragmatic solution to transnational issues such as trade andf ree movement. Latterly though the term has f allen into disrepute and been misrepresented by euroscepticswho equate it with centralisation. On the contrary, several states in Europe already have f ederalconstitutional structures with competences spread over dif f erent levels of  government. A f ederal Europe issimply an acknowledgement that in today’s world there are now a number of  policy areas which transcendthe nation state. In your manifesto you call for a new EU constitution to be drafted after EP elections in 2014. Afterthe experience of the Constitutional Treaty, why do you think this will be successful? A lot of  water has passed under the bridge since the rejection of  the European Constitutional Treaty in2005 – not least a very severe f inancial and economic crisis which has exposed the interdependence ofMember States and their banking systems and the inadequacy of  having a common monetary policy withouta common f iscal policy. The mistake of  the Constitutional Treaty was to bundle together all existing treatiesinto a single document and call it  a Constitution. Rather, the next European Parliament to be elected in 2014should become a Constituent Assembly whose chief  responsibility would be to draw up a draf tConstitution, in agreement with the Council of  Ministers. The text should be short and concise and conf ineitself  to genuinely constitutional aspects of  EU governance and be submitted to a ref erendum across allcountries of  the Union. Individual States can then also hold separate ref erendums to determine if  they wishto be part of  the envisaged f ederal Europe. That is not only democratic but would generate f ar greaterpublic participation in the elections as well as f orcing all countries to conf ront the issue of  Europe head onand no longer hide in the shadows. You say that: “Any states that reject the constitution will then have to decide, by referendum,whether they wish to remain in this new federal Europe or withdraw from it”. Do you think that all(by then) 28 members states will agree to remain in this new federal Europe, and if  not, will thislead to a Europe of two speeds? We already ef f ectively have a Union of  two speeds between those inside the eurozone and those not,between those inside Schengen and those not, between those participating in Justice and Home Af f airscooperation and those not. The important thing is to ensure that no-one is excluded f rom participating in atighter-knit f ederal Europe. Some countries may wish to f orge ahead f aster, as in the past, but the doorshould remain open to others to catch up when they are ready. In your proposals for a federal Europe, what policies do you see remaining with member statesand what will be transferred to the European level? In any f ederal structure, the division of  powers must be decided by the constituent parts of  the f ederationin accordance with the times, pressures and demands of  society. As things stand at present there is a clearneed f or a f ederal f iscal union within the eurozone to supervise cross-border banks, keep a check onnational budgetary imbalances etc. Such a degree of  integration would have been inconceivable even f iveyears ago. Future external threats and budgetary strictures may f orce Member States to deepen def encecooperation or create a European version of  the FBI f or pursuing cross-border criminals. There needs tobe much closer coordination and convergence of  tax and social security polices too, but just like in the US,Germany or Spain there is scope f or regional dif f erences. Fast forward to 2022. If  your proposals for a federal Europe are successful, how will the way thatthe European Union operates differ from today? The EU would be a much more cohesive unit, decision-making would be more ef f icient and transparent.There would be a clearer vision and sense of  common purpose and endeavour. There may be a f ast and aslow lane but there would not be the constant f riction that results today f rom the use of  unanimity rule toblock important decisions like a single European patent or a single banking supervisor or a f ederal budgetthat matched the policy ambitions expected of  it. The world of  2022 will likely be dominated by the BRICcountries (Brazil, Russia, India and China). Even the current G8 may have been transf ormed by theemergence of  new, more dynamic economies. The nation states of  Europe, as f ormed in the 19th century,will no longer be able to compete or hold their own on a global level, so we have to begin to envisage newparadigms and plan f or the brave new world of  the f uture.Guy Verhofstadt and Daniel Cohn-Bendit will be speaking at the ‘Manifesto for a post-national and federalEurope’ event at the LSE on Monday 8 October, 2012. Please read our comments policy before commenting. Note:  This article gives the views of the author, and not the position of EUROPP – European Politics andPolicy, nor of the London School of Economics. Shortened URL for this post: http://bit .ly/OFa5QC _________________________________ About the authors Daniel Cohn-Bendit – Co-president of the European Greens–European Free AllianceDaniel Cohn-Bendit was elected as a Member of  the European Parliament f or the f irst t imein 1994 on a German conscription list. Since 2002, he has been co-chairman of  the group ofthe Greens/European Free Alliance. He won his current mandate as head of  the list in Ile-de-France / Paris. Daniel holds an honorary doctorate f rom the Catholic University of  Tilburg,Netherlands. He won the Hannah Arendt prize f or Polit ical Thinking, and the Trombinoscopeaward “Polit ical Personality” f or special contributions in the f ield of  polit ics (2009).Guy Verhofstadt -  Leader of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for EuropeGuy Verhof stadt  has held a number of  high prof ile posts in Belgium including Polit icalSecretary to Willy De Clercq, National President of  the Party f or Freedom and Progress(PVV), an MP in the House of  Representatives, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister f or theBudget, a Senator, and National President of  the PVV and National President of  the FlemishLiberals and Democrats (VLD). In 1999 he became Prime Minister of  Belgium, heading threeseparate governments over the course of  nearly ten years. In 2009 Guy he was elected tothe European Parliament where he will pursue his interests in European polit ics af terwinning the unanimous support of  the ALDE Group in their leadership contest. In addition to his duties as apolit ician, Guy has written a number of  books including, The New Age of Empires (2008) and Emerging fromthe Crisis: How Europe can Save the World (2009).

Five minutes with Guy Verhofstadt, President of the ALDE Group and Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Co-President of the Greens/European Free Alliance – “There is no alternative to a federal Europe”

Five minutes with Guy Verhofstadt, President of the ALDE Group and Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Co-President of the Greens/European Free Alliance – “There is no alternative to a federal Europe”

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

LSE Research Online