THE STATE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION. Reforming Europe in a time of war

83 Spain at the helm of the European Union in stormy times: For an ambitious agenda for the Council Presidency in 2023 Mercedes Guinea Llorente Europeans and a tumultuous 2022: multiple crises and the demand for a European Union that works better It is impossible to describe 2022 and the years that have preceded it as anything other than tumultuous for the EU, its Member states and its citizens. In autumn 2022, we have been dealing with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with its horrific humanitarian consequences: death, inju- ry, destruction and the threat to the security and stability of Europe and the world. This aggression personifies all the evils that the Eu- ropean Community was originally established to combat. It represents a return to barbarism, disdain for humanity, for dignity, for rights, the negation of the right of neigh- bouring states to exist, and a mockery of international law and international institutions. It justifies any behav- iour in terms of power. It represents the return of nation- alism as an exclusive ideology, one that denies the other, and leads to the most extreme consequence of all: war. The ghost that Europe thought it had vanquished after the Second World War, through the process of European integration, has returned to haunt us. Europeans are experiencing the first effects of the food, energy and economic crises that have been un- leashed by the conflict, with their severe social impact on the lives of individuals and families, and on the business sector. Over recent weeks, we have become aware that these crises are also affecting the political stability of our Member states.We have looked on, powerless, as the far right has played a key role in polls in countries such as Hungary, Italy and Sweden, which will greatly complicate both the operation of the EU in general and the political response to Russia. Furthermore, this turbulence comes at an already difficult time, when Europeans are still trying to recover from the devastating impact of the 2020 pandemic, im- plementing the Next Generation programme, and facing