What does Europe stand for?
After the European Election in May - what are the next steps?
Europe is not just a continent or a political idea. Europe is rather our promise for peace and prosperity and our way to stay in a powerful position in the 21th century.
We have a common idea how we want to live – I’m afraid however we need to protect our idea, our way of life, against anti-European movements. Not everyone seems to understand clearly why Europe is our lifeline. We need to be aware of the dangerous influences people like Marine Le Pen can create. They are planning to turn the European integration around.
Europe is the guarantee for democracy and participation, for human and citizen rights. After the unthinkable happened we need to be aware of the danger to lose our position.
The European integration is the reason why we live in peace. We want that our children grow up in a world where schoolgirls are not kidnapped, where everyone can develop his own interests. We want to live in a Europe where our freedom is respected and where the government provides support for citizens in needs. We want to live in a democracy and we want that our economy grows.
Currently we are facing a discussion about the question who can be the next head of the European Commission. This is a leading (and powerful) position which should be fitted by someone who carries the European idea in his heart, who has got a strong passion for Europe. The current president José Manuel Barroso needs to be carefully replaced - however we are just talking about a few candidates – one of them needs to be elected.
The situation at present requires a clear focus on the plan to establish an anti-European block in the European Parliament. This idea could stop the success of the parliamentarian work. You need to have at least 25 Members of the European Parliament (MEP), which is mainly located in Brussels, to be a political block. As a political block you can demand claims for equipment, staff and travel to attend meetings and conferences. These 25 MEPs, representing at least one fourth of member states, means that the MEPs need to represent at least seven countries. If Marine Le Pen’s strategy is successful, we have got a dilemma: as a chair of a political group she would be entitled to all the rights all other chairs of political groups are – that’s democracy. Everyone has the same rights and duties – it doesn’t matter what he or she stands for. Ironically: The EU would found a political group which tries to stop the European integration.
Thoroughness, not speed is what matters – it is important to do everything we can do to reduce the success of the anti-European coalition. That is far more important than to discuss who would be the next president of the European Commission.
