A call for Europeanism
In the UK, advocates of the European Union have often spoken of the value of the Single Market, how our EU membership gives us a voice in shaping these regulations to the benefit of British business, that essentially whatever costs may be attached, it's worth it for the extra percentage points of GDP and employment figures. That argument has been done. I do not want to talk about that. Instead, I want us to take a step back and ask a deeper question:
What is our vision for Europe?
Our continent has long been wracked by war and violence, millions of bodies buried while we fought to claim scraps of land from one another. Our desire, one shared by all Europeans, must be to end this and to forge a lasting peace with democracy and liberty as the standard everywhere in Europe. This much is obvious, yet the question remains, how is this to be done?
The nationalism of the past and national independence did not achieve this. Nationalism's central achievement was to take an already conflict-heavy continent and turn it into a slaughterhouse.
There are some who proclaim a different, so-called liberal nationalism, based on civic values and not concerned with matters of race or purity.
They claim to be merely representing a natural attachment to national identity. Yet, they can never explain why this attachment must be limited to one nation. They have no response to the millions of people whose identity is mixed and not limited to a single place.
They argue that people need common institutions for democracies to function, yet cannot explain why these institutions must be held in a monopoly by a single nation.
They insist they are open to all creeds and races coming into the nation but advocate for greater border controls and tougher citizenship exams, implementing more limits on who can belong.
They claim tolerance of foreigners but demand a form of integration that requires people to abandon their other identities and be subsumed into a homogenous national construct, the terms of which they conveniently are able to define. Terms not defined by race, perhaps, but nonetheless restrictive on the freedom of the individual.
Most importantly, these nationalists never say no to the votes of the xenophobes and racists. Where their objectives align, they do a deal every time, confident that they have the mastery of the situation. This is a dangerous arrogance. By giving hatred a respectable face, they allow extremism to be trafficked into the mainstream of our public discourse and politics. Once this destructive force has been let out of its cage, it is nearly impossible to put it back.
Therefore, do not be conned. Nationalists who dress up in suits and speak in soft tones are nonetheless nationalists. They carry the weight of the same failed ideology and are only an elite minority among the nationalist movement, risking the entrance of far more dangerous and radical elements into our politics. They can offer no answer to Europe's future.
When we talk of a vision for Europe, it must be a concrete answer to this question of establishing a lasting end to conflict and securing our shared values not only in Europe but in the context of a world which is not always friendly to those values. The logical solution is to bring together the states of Europe into a common organisation where decisions are taken collectively and where our states are integrated further and further such that conflict becomes both unthinkable and impossible. Far from indulging in utopian thinking, this is the only solution that takes a hard, practical look at the issue and presents real legal, economic and cultural mechanisms and institutions to create a lasting solution.
Through a European project of shared values and political and economic integration, we can create the biggest union of prosperity, democracy and peace ever seen in the history of mankind.
That is our vision for Europe and the EU is that project.
Contrary to what the populists tell you, the EU is not about Brussels. The EU is about giving institutional form to Europe's shared values: democracy, justice, equality, openness, tolerance, diversity. By binding all states into a common union, we strengthen these values domestically and make it harder for them to be attacked from the outside.
Eurosceptics seek to divide us, to weaken these bonds and attack our values and we must recognise this as a danger to all European citizens. They are led by an ultra-wealthy elite, an elite who wish to retain the rights and freedoms that money can buy while denying them to others. The EU has enshrined these rights and made them accessible to all, they, therefore, see it as a threat.
It's true, the EU is not a project for national governments. It is not there to satisfy the egos of politicians and their entrenched privileges. It aspires to be greater than that. To be a project for European citizens.
We live in a rapidly changing world and we need a suitable response. In the globalised world of tomorrow, we can already see the superpowers: China, India and the US. There will be no real independence for countries alongside these giants. They will be forced to adopt their standards and their values in order to keep their economies afloat and maintain their security. In Europe, we have an opportunity to forge a strong EU that can stand as an equal among these superpowers. We can protect ourselves and advance our values with one voice, or be divided and have no voice.
There is a clear and unambiguous case for us to advance the European project.
If you believe that the UK should be able to defend itself, then you should support military integration.
If you believe that people do a better job of deciding their lives than bureaucrats, then you should support EU freedom of movement.
If you believe that the UK should be part of the deepest and widest free trade zone and that we should have a hand in deciding its rules, you should support being in the EU Single Market.
If you believe that we are made richer by diversity in Europe then you should support the cultural and educational policies that make pan-European exchanges possible for all.
If you believe that the European model, found here in the UK too, of justice, equality and democracy needs to be preserved in the face of autocrats and turbo-charged capitalism, then you should support a strong European voice in international affairs.
If you believe that we achieve more through common endeavour than we do alone, then you should support European unity.
Nationalism has had its time. It failed in the most destructive, violent and bloody way. Now we must look to Europe. A Europe of democracy. A Europe of freedom. A Europe of citizens. A Europe that protects. A Europe that stands firm.
What is our vision for Europe?
Our continent has long been wracked by war and violence, millions of bodies buried while we fought to claim scraps of land from one another. Our desire, one shared by all Europeans, must be to end this and to forge a lasting peace with democracy and liberty as the standard everywhere in Europe. This much is obvious, yet the question remains, how is this to be done?
The nationalism of the past and national independence did not achieve this. Nationalism's central achievement was to take an already conflict-heavy continent and turn it into a slaughterhouse.
There are some who proclaim a different, so-called liberal nationalism, based on civic values and not concerned with matters of race or purity.
They claim to be merely representing a natural attachment to national identity. Yet, they can never explain why this attachment must be limited to one nation. They have no response to the millions of people whose identity is mixed and not limited to a single place.
They argue that people need common institutions for democracies to function, yet cannot explain why these institutions must be held in a monopoly by a single nation.
They insist they are open to all creeds and races coming into the nation but advocate for greater border controls and tougher citizenship exams, implementing more limits on who can belong.
They claim tolerance of foreigners but demand a form of integration that requires people to abandon their other identities and be subsumed into a homogenous national construct, the terms of which they conveniently are able to define. Terms not defined by race, perhaps, but nonetheless restrictive on the freedom of the individual.
Most importantly, these nationalists never say no to the votes of the xenophobes and racists. Where their objectives align, they do a deal every time, confident that they have the mastery of the situation. This is a dangerous arrogance. By giving hatred a respectable face, they allow extremism to be trafficked into the mainstream of our public discourse and politics. Once this destructive force has been let out of its cage, it is nearly impossible to put it back.
Therefore, do not be conned. Nationalists who dress up in suits and speak in soft tones are nonetheless nationalists. They carry the weight of the same failed ideology and are only an elite minority among the nationalist movement, risking the entrance of far more dangerous and radical elements into our politics. They can offer no answer to Europe's future.
When we talk of a vision for Europe, it must be a concrete answer to this question of establishing a lasting end to conflict and securing our shared values not only in Europe but in the context of a world which is not always friendly to those values. The logical solution is to bring together the states of Europe into a common organisation where decisions are taken collectively and where our states are integrated further and further such that conflict becomes both unthinkable and impossible. Far from indulging in utopian thinking, this is the only solution that takes a hard, practical look at the issue and presents real legal, economic and cultural mechanisms and institutions to create a lasting solution.
Through a European project of shared values and political and economic integration, we can create the biggest union of prosperity, democracy and peace ever seen in the history of mankind.
That is our vision for Europe and the EU is that project.
Contrary to what the populists tell you, the EU is not about Brussels. The EU is about giving institutional form to Europe's shared values: democracy, justice, equality, openness, tolerance, diversity. By binding all states into a common union, we strengthen these values domestically and make it harder for them to be attacked from the outside.
Eurosceptics seek to divide us, to weaken these bonds and attack our values and we must recognise this as a danger to all European citizens. They are led by an ultra-wealthy elite, an elite who wish to retain the rights and freedoms that money can buy while denying them to others. The EU has enshrined these rights and made them accessible to all, they, therefore, see it as a threat.
It's true, the EU is not a project for national governments. It is not there to satisfy the egos of politicians and their entrenched privileges. It aspires to be greater than that. To be a project for European citizens.
We live in a rapidly changing world and we need a suitable response. In the globalised world of tomorrow, we can already see the superpowers: China, India and the US. There will be no real independence for countries alongside these giants. They will be forced to adopt their standards and their values in order to keep their economies afloat and maintain their security. In Europe, we have an opportunity to forge a strong EU that can stand as an equal among these superpowers. We can protect ourselves and advance our values with one voice, or be divided and have no voice.
There is a clear and unambiguous case for us to advance the European project.
If you believe that the UK should be able to defend itself, then you should support military integration.
If you believe that people do a better job of deciding their lives than bureaucrats, then you should support EU freedom of movement.
If you believe that the UK should be part of the deepest and widest free trade zone and that we should have a hand in deciding its rules, you should support being in the EU Single Market.
If you believe that we are made richer by diversity in Europe then you should support the cultural and educational policies that make pan-European exchanges possible for all.
If you believe that the European model, found here in the UK too, of justice, equality and democracy needs to be preserved in the face of autocrats and turbo-charged capitalism, then you should support a strong European voice in international affairs.
If you believe that we achieve more through common endeavour than we do alone, then you should support European unity.
Nationalism has had its time. It failed in the most destructive, violent and bloody way. Now we must look to Europe. A Europe of democracy. A Europe of freedom. A Europe of citizens. A Europe that protects. A Europe that stands firm.
Now is the time to stand up and say: I am European.
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