Focus today on the probable enlargement of Europe, with Sylvie Goulard, former Member of the European Parliament, Deputy Governor of the Banque de France-Eurosystem from January 2018 to August 2019, specialist in Europe. She has just published L’Europe swelled so much that it burst 😀e 27 to 36 States, published by Tallandier.
franceinfo: Europe is swelling… Like the frog and the ox?
Sylvie Goulard: Exactly, it was La Fontaine who lent me another title. I love La Fontaine’s fables. The title is a bit strong, indeed, but I believe that it is necessary to place the political leaders who make decisions, who can have their justification in front of the reality of the implementation of their decisions.
This book is “a rant”, but you don’t blame anyone. You explain how the European Union works, explain how the institutions work, and you tell us no, it’s not possible?
In any case, it’s certainly not possible the way we go about it…
Just one example, 3 countries Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine as candidates, but with what borders today?
You know, on North Macedonia, we could ask questions about the borders.
Especially when the president of North Macedonia who has just been sworn in, did not take an oath on North Macedonia, but on Macedonia. And there, the Greeks did not agree?
Exactly, but let’s get back to your question in the strict sense. So, three countries which are in difficult situations, and that is, I would say, the good reason to consider their accession, since Ukraine is partly invaded by Russia, Moldova is partly occupied, and Georgia is the subject of an attempt at destabilization. So, these are countries whose borders are not secure; whose standard of living is much lower than the standard of living of the poorest country in the European Union, Bulgaria.
And generally speaking, in a context where we do not really know what it would mean to integrate countries which are experiencing such trauma, with a certain pretension to think that it would be a bulwark against Vladimir Putin, while we do not We have neither the institutions, nor the budget, nor the policies, nor the means of defense.
And also the example of Bosnia-Herzegovina; ready to implode every day…
Yes, unfortunately, we can start to make a rather long list of sequential problems. I don’t at all want to sound like a bad omen, but what has struck me a lot recently is that you mentioned the statements of the President of North Macedonia which, basically, calls into question An agreement on borders potentially can reopen a conflict. Chinese President Xi Jinping barely left Paris when he went to Serbia to see a country which is a candidate, whose loyalty to the European Union leaves a little to be desired.
Once again, I am not here to give good or bad points to other countries. The whole reasoning of the book consists of looking at whether our leaders, the President of the Commission, are ready to deploy the efforts that would be necessary to bring their own project to fruition.
And above all, after June 9, which president, for which commission?
The most fundamental questions, beyond knowing who will be in the Commission or at the head of the European Council, can we continue to claim to make the European Union a power capable of protecting its citizens, of us offer a guarantee of security, in the face of threatening powers, without asking the question of how decisions are made?
And Europe, I take your book again, always thinks about enlargements, but isn’t it time to think about something other than enlargements?
Yes, so there are two things. First in the past, I cite for example a great European that was Philippe de Schoutheete, the idea of going hand in hand between what we called enlargement, therefore welcoming new members, and deepening, that is to say, carry out the necessary reforms so that, despite the increase in number and heterogeneity, decisions can be made.
Already, I observe that in the conclusions of the European Council last December, which launched this enlargement process, there is no longer even a question of deepening, but only of reforms. Ultimately, the end of the European Union is a reform. So I find that all this is not very serious.
The second thing which is striking is that indeed, and this, I insist in the book, it is necessary, once again, to do what we want Europe to do, for there to be a greater sense of belonging. And this is where enlargements end up being a problem. If you cannot constantly consider that the group will remain united, while we welcome more and more diverse members, that is not throwing stones at those who arrive, it is an effect of the number and heterogeneity, that’s it.
So it’s not just the number, but the number is not simple. And among the numbers, there is also another phenomenon, which is that the very subtle balances that once existed between the most populated countries and the least populated countries have been broken.
So you have a multitude of countries representing a small share of the population, which find themselves with a veto when decisions are taken unanimously. And that’s simply not democratic.
Missing subtlety and reasoning?
Consistency was greater among the Founding Fathers. This generation knew that strong safeguards were needed to prevent differences from turning into conflicts and conflicts from turning into open war. And we miss that.
Europe swelled so much that it collapsed: From 27 to 36 States? By Sylvie Goulard, published by Tallandier, March 7, 2024.