Europe is going through one of the most decisive moments in its recent history. Yes. The EU, born as a project of peace and prosperity after the Second World War, is today confronted with a geostrategic context marked by global tensions, successive crises and a chaotic and increasingly multipolar international order. Some analysts go further and suggest that the order will be multiplex. The war in Ukraine, instability in the Middle East, technological competition with the United States and China and internal challenges, such as the rise of populism or the ecological and digital transition, constitute a complex scenario that requires bold and coordinated responses.
Is Europe a declining or emerging power? Does Europe, as a political construction, represent a model of society which, despite its faults and imperfections, deserves to be defended? Has this political Europe forgotten that its true reason for being lies in the people who live together in this space? Europe raises more questions than answers because we live in a time of radical transformation of our frames of reference. The EU must represent the answer to political stability, economic prosperity, solidarity and security.
In this complex context, those of us who reaffirm our pro-European conviction must assert ourselves as actors who, from civil society, propose and promote prosperity, the strengthening of territorial cohesion and the articulation of participatory and collaborative governance in Europe, by promoting the voice of different realities such as the Atlantic coast in the community agenda, and by promoting a shared network vision which combines sustainable development, competitiveness and citizen participation.
The EU faces internal and external challenges that test its capacity for common action. Firstly, in terms of security and defense, where the war in Ukraine has highlighted the need to strengthen European strategic autonomy. Secondly, in terms of migration and social cohesion, try to balance the humanitarian management of migrant arrivals with the reception and inclusion capacity of host societies, in a context of increasing migratory pressure and demographic aging. Third, economic competitiveness, because faced with the fragmentation of global trade and massive subsidies from the United States and China, Europe must progress in the integration of its capital markets, promote innovation and guarantee green and digital transitions. And finally, the institutional reforms, which have become obligatory since enlargement to Ukraine and the Balkans, require reviewing decision-making mechanisms and strengthening the rule of law, avoiding internal blockages.
The whole dimension of external relations has enormous strategic value, because if the EU wishes to contribute auctorites and of global influence in a multipolar world, it must consolidate its strategic alliances with Latin America, Africa and Asia, defending its democratic values against autocratic and authoritarian regimes.
This is how civil society appears to be an essential driver of the European project. Indeed, Europe’s success does not depend only on institutions, but also on the active participation of citizens. Social awareness is essential to strengthen the democratic legitimacy of the EU and to counter Eurosceptic discourses that threaten to fragment our common European space.
Support is necessary for all institutional work, in particular through spaces for reflection, research, debate and action aimed at strengthening territorial cooperation. Its mission must be clear: to promote dynamics favoring understanding between public and private agents, to promote transformative projects and to guarantee that the specificities of the different macro-regions, including those in the definition phase such as the Atlantic, are fully integrated into the EU agenda.
Currently, it is essential to promote three strategic axes:
1. The defense of European territorial cohesion, by effectively focusing on harmonious development of both its Atlantic coast and more dynamic axes such as the Mediterranean or the East.
2. The promotion of more collaborative, more participatory and also multi-level governance, favoring the participation of the institutional levels closest to citizens in the design and implementation of European policies, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity.
3. Promoting competitiveness and sustainability, by aligning its initiatives with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the green and digital transitions.
It is necessary to create spaces for dialogue and cooperation, where representatives of sub-state governments, civil society and other actors such as businesses can articulate common strategies to face challenges such as connectivity, technological innovation, the blue economy or the energy transition. The Atlantic Macroregion project, which we have been promoting for years in the territories of the Atlantic coast under the leadership of the Basque Government, included on the agenda of the General Affairs Council of December 2023, and which received this week the green light from the European Council, is a strategic tool adapted to these premises.
Last year, we learned of the wise proposals from Enrico Letta and Mario Draghi to move towards a new single market and revive European competitiveness. By following the directions proposed by the two reports, it would be possible to activate true collaborative interdependence and to territorialize the major European proposals to favor their flexible application, so that they allow each territory to develop its own strategies, in dialogue and coordination with common global objectives.
Locate European policies at an appropriate scale involve focusing on citizen participation, improving the effectiveness and democratic legitimacy of our institutions and strengthening institutional resilience in the face of the complex challenges we face.
These challenges are not abstract: they affect the daily lives, political stability and well-being of millions of Europeans. The European project will not survive without the active support of citizens. Disaffection and Euroscepticism are real risks that we must counter through participation, transparency and education.
Europe is at a crossroads. Yes. You can choose to either opt out ad intra, for a return to the nation-state (this would be a huge mistake), or for deeper integration that strengthens its global role. And to do this, we must find a great political consensus without veto, with solidarity and territorial cohesion, with investments in innovation and sustainability and with active and real citizen participation.
We must find, as Europeans, our place in the world based on a vision, a strategy and values that strengthen inclusive multilateralism. Europe symbolizes the construction of a transnational democracy as complex as it is fearless, difficult to achieve without doubt, but, at the same time, it is a bastion of freedom, social values and a proposal for life and coexistence in society between different peoples that we cannot allow to dissolve or distort in the face of the sinking of emerging populisms.
What are we missing? Dynamism and political leadership to achieve a Europe that excites its citizens. Faced with the crisis and institutional confusion, it is undoubtedly possible to demand more Europe, but with greater depth in the values of the European model of society. Based on democratic values and the principles of subsidiarity, with the collaboration of society with institutional representations and cooperation between them. Either we integrate further or we disintegrate as a European political project. The challenge is worth it.
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