We need to talk about Europe - European Identity Debates at the Council of Europe 2013-14

Peaceful, prosperous, democratic and respectful of people’s rights, building Europe is an ongoing challenge. For many years it seemed that Europeans lived on a continent of shared values and a common destiny. No one paid attention to the alarm bells warning of growing divisions across the continent, which have become more insistent since the economic and social crisis. Europe and its values, previously taken for granted, are now being contested. These clouds are casting a shadow across Europe’s future, and old demons, long dormant, have started to raise their voices again. With a deepening values divide there is an urgent need for public debate and a reconsideration of how Europeans can strengthen the European project. Is a “Europe united in diversity” still feasible? Can a consensus be forged on a set of values pertaining to a common European identity? What should be done to preserve European unity? The Council of Europe, with its membership covering Europe from Vladivostok to Lisbon and from Reykjavik to Ankara, and its mission to promote democracy, human rights and the rule of law, provides an excellent framework for discussing the current state of thinking and dynamics behind the concept of European identity. For these reasons, the Council of Europe, together with the École nationale d’administration in Strasbourg, held a series of European Identity Debates featuring eminent personalities from a variety of backgrounds including politics, civil society, academia and the humanities. This publication presents the 10 European Identity Debates lectures. The authors identify major issues and challenges and provide an original analysis of different aspects of European identity within their fields of expertise. The authors formulate proposals on how to better understand the multifaceted nature of Europe, what it means today to be European, and what should be done in terms of ideas and strategies to keep Europe dynamic and to build a sustainable future.

PREFACE Thorbjørn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe INTRODUCTION François-Gilles Le Theule, Director, European Affairs, Ecole nationale d’administration EDITOR’S NOTE Piotr Świtalski, Ambassador, Director of Policy Planning ROOTS OF EUROPEAN IDENTITY: CHALLENGES AND THREATS Karsten Alnaes, Norwegian writer and historian, author of History of Europe EUROPE: CULTURE ON THE EDGE OF THE WORLD, OR WHO ARE THE LOSERS? Yuri Andrukhovych, Ukrainian novelist and poet, co-author of My Europe RUSSIA LOOKS EUROPE IN THE EYE Victor Erofeev, Russian writer, author of Encyclopaedia of the Russian soul EUROPE IS STRONGER THAN YOU THINK, IF WE REINVENT OURSELVES Martti Ahtisaari, Former President of Finland (1994-2000), 2008 Nobel Peace Prize laureate GEORGIA AND THE REGION’S EUROPEAN ASPIRATIONS: BUILDING THE FUTURE ON A VIBRANT PAST David O. Lordkipanidze, Paleoanthropologist charting the origins of the first Europeans QUO VADIS EUROPA? Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Essayist and politician, leader of 1968 student demonstrations, MEP (2009-14) EUROPEAN IDENTITY: THE PAST WAITING FOR A FUTURE Robert Salais, French economist, author of Le Viol d’Europe : Enquete sur la disparition d’une idée IN SEARCH OF EUROPE Tzvetan Todorov, French essayist, philosopher and historian of Bulgarian origin CORE EU CHALLENGE: DEMOCRATIC DEFICIT OR TRUST DEFICIT? Ana Palacio, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain, member of the Council of State of Spain EUROPEAN VALUES AND THE SEARCH FOR IDENTITIES Adam Daniel Rotfeld, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, former director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) ABOUT THE AUTHORS