The State of the European Union. The European Parliament faces its most important elections yet

INTRODUCTION 15 The threats posed by right-wing populism to the EU’s process of inte- gration (Klaus Busch) can only be averted if the European countries are capable of laying down five major strategic lines that are crucial to our future: a structure that is federal (José Enrique Ayala) and participative (Doménec Miquel Ruiz Devesa); a reform of the euro, including a budget (Víctor Echevarría); a true Social Europe with measures such as a minimum monthly wage to combat poverty and European unemployment insurance (Gero Maass and María Pallares); a European pact on migration and refu- gees (Paloma Favieres); and a policy on foreign affairs (Vicente Palacio and Juan Antonio Pavón) and defence (Francisco Aldecoa). By no means can we allow ourselves to lose sleep thinking about Europe, as Heinrich Heine said happened to him when he thought about Germany. Rather what we need are ideas for a new “European spring” that could begin to be implemented tomorrow if some determined Europeans had the real will to act. Gero Maass Diego López Garrido Representative in Spain Executive Vice-President Friedrich Ebert Foundation Fundación Alternativas