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PRESENTATION
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is grappling with the contradiction of citizens who have more freedom
than ever but who at the same time feel themselves to be increasingly
powerless. It is the populists who have exploited this new gap between
ordinary citizens and the economic and political elites, promising identity,
patriotism, emotion and feelings of belonging.
In times of great crisis, it is not too much change that generates inse-
curity but rather clinging to the policies of the past. People don’t want to
do away with Europe altogether but rather to create a new Europe. The
refoundation of Europe must strive for a new balance of shared sovereig-
nty, democracy and subsidiarity. The Europe of the future must be both
larger and smaller than the old one: larger with respect to global issues,
and smaller with respect to local ones. The Europe of the future is not a
state in the legal or centralist sense of the word, but rather a coordinated
entity, one that is simultaneously supranational and federal.
Europe must be more sovereign and more united when it addresses
global challenges such as migration, poverty, terrorism, climate change,
protectionism and the digital revolution. It will have to think in more am-
bitious terms if the USA withdraws from the continent and powers such
as China, India and Russia become key players on the global stage.
Achieving true sovereignty depends on moving from a politics of unilateral
action and coercion to one of reconciliation and coordination.
Monetary union is incomplete without fiscal and social union. In light
of the new global security situation, it is important to include the creation
of a security, defence and energy union on the agenda. And there is
another question that cannot be sidestepped: the European Union must
become more democratic. For this relaunch, Europe needs – in the me-
dium term – a declaration of reciprocal dependence. Europe draws its
strength not from the independence of member countries as nation states
but rather from their interdependence and their cooperation, a unique
historical phenomenon. The drive towards regional independence, such as
we have recently seen among a minority of Catalans, is the expression of
a new, exclusive nationalism that has also appeared in other parts of
Europe. But what has made Europe strong and innovative is not nationa-
lism but rather an intelligent balance between autonomy and dependence
within a federal framework.
Nicolás Sartorius
Gero Maass
Executive Vice-president
Representative in Spain
Fundación Alternativas
Fundación Friedrich Ebert