Speeches

Speech by Mr Hans-Gert Poettering,
Chairman of the EPP-ED Group in the European Parliament,
at Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government,
on Tuesday, 10 October 2006

The "Role of the European Union in the World - our Common Transatlantic Responsibility"


With great pleasure I have accepted the kind invitation to come to the John F. Kennedy School of Government. This is the heart of Harvard’s interactions with politics and the study of government. I envy all those of you who have the chance to study here at the edge of academia and in very regular interaction with practical politics and public service. Of course, the world may also expect more from you one day than from many others around the globe because you have been given so much more than others. I congratulate all those of you teaching here and sharing your professional experience. Oscar Wilde once wrote: “I don’t like principles. I prefer prejudices”. The John F. Kennedy School of Government clearly is the place which proves that prejudices are short-sighted and it is the place where principles are applied to practicality.

Let me share some of my thoughts with you concerning our common transatlantic principles and about the prejudices we have to fight together. I do this as a German European. I am aware that for some in the United States, to listen to a German may be different. The political disputes over Iraq have disappeared thanks to our very able and transatlantic Chancellor Angela Merkel. But then, our language remains. Mark Twain once wrote: “Whenever the literary German dives into a sentence that is the last you are going to see of him till he emerges on the other side of the Atlantic with his verb in his mouth.” Therefore, I will speak in English, because I am also European. Sometimes, I sense that the European Union is still perceived in the US as an animal stranger than anything else coming from Europe. I know that this prejudice is not shared at Harvard. I am all the more pleased to talk to you about the role of the European Union in the world and our common transatlantic responsibility.

I will not deny our deficits and shortcomings. We are engaged in re-connecting the unique and successful idea of a political union among the democratic European nations and states with the recognition of it among its citizens. This is a continuous challenge for any democracy in the world. All the more it is a challenge for the European Union as an emerging democracy. Political scientists have ably described the European Union as an expression of “multi-level governance” between the local, the regional, the national and the European level. I am a member (or one of only six) of the European parliament since its first direct election in 1979. We have gone a long way. Since then, the European Parliament is practically co-deciding with the Council of Ministers - the representation of the member state governments- on all relevant legislation of the European Union. We have achieved a lot in order to install an acceptable degree of separation of powers on the EU level. However, this is not sufficient yet in order to be democratic, efficient and transparent in a way we would like to see it. Therefore, the European Parliament supports the European Constitution. We would like to implement its main principles as soon as possible. We do not want this merely to overcome the current crisis of ratification following the negative referenda in France and in the Netherlands in 2005. We want the substance of the Constitution to become European reality because we are convinced that it includes substantial changes to our procedures and policies that are essential to cope with the main challenges of our time. In our view, the implementation of the key elements of the European Constitution is a vital element for the EU to gain or regain confidence among EU citizens.

We are struggling to find a balance between old and new EU member states. We struggle because of different experiences, approaches and principles. Many of the old member states are, in principle, cautious in reforming their welfare mechanisms. They are worried about competition from Central and Eastern Europe while at the same time many of their citizens are uneasy about the effects of globalization. It would be too simplistic to say that globalization is an opportunity in the US and a challenge in Europe. But there is something to this difference, which is a difference in political culture. Many of the new member states of the European Union want to be as dynamic as possible, knowing that they can only catch up with the levels of affluence if they are twice as fast as the others and run the extra mile, too. The European Union as a whole is aware of the need to strengthen the education systems, the basis of our competitiveness and cope with the combination of an ageing population and the fact that most of the EU has become home for legal and illegal migrants from our peripheries more than ever before. This is not only a matter of economic re-juvenation, it is also a matter of economic competition. And, particularly as far as Muslim migrants from our South – the Arab world and sub-Saharan Africa – is concerned, it is also a matter deeply affecting issues of integration and rising the need for a sincere dialogue of cultures.

In all these fields, the European Union is not perfect. It is in fact full of flaws as every democratic order will be. European integration is about half a century old. On March 25, 2007 we will celebrate the fiftieth birthday of the founding Treaties of Rome. This will be the moment to take stock, to celebrate what has been achieved and to be honest in analysing what has been missing so far. Among the main success stories of European integration, you will agree to say, are:

European integration has made it possible to transform centuries-long conflicts among European states into a community of law, democracy and common interests.

European integration has helped to overcome the division of Europe and it has contributed to a re-unification of Europe based on democracy, rule of law, respect for minorities and market economy.

European integration has become the basis for a fundamentally new encounter of Europe with many parts of the world, not the least among former European colonies. We have overcome the legacy of colonialism and we have embarked on a new era of partnership because we present ourselves to the world as a new Europe, together, ready to compromise and in the spirit of partnership.

European integration has been recognized among several people and regions in the world as a role model for a peaceful transformation of conflicts and the new organization of order and "region-ness". Around the world, you can find regional groupings which look at the EU as a model for their own aspiration of regional integration. The European Union is pro-actively supporting the global dissemination of regional integration.

The European Union is today the biggest donor of development aid in the world. European peace-keeping and police missions in more than a dozen places around the world give testimony to the readiness of the EU to participate in the global management of regional conflicts. We know our limits and we know our shortcomings. Most importantly, however, we are aware that we can succeed in the global management of the main conflicts and challenges of our time only side by side with the United States. The strategic partnership between the European Union and the United States is without alternative for us in Europe. And I suppose that the awareness of the importance of transatlantic relations has also grown in the US in recent times.

Let me use the opportunity of this lecture to share some of the principles with you which, I believe, we share across the ocean. These are the principles which, I believe, are essential if we want to succeed against the prejudices about the Western world – and against Oscar Wilde’s understanding of principles and prejudices, by the way.

1. Our public life is based on our commitment to human dignity. This is the basis of our Atlantic civilization. It is the basis of our democracy. And it is the basis of our understanding of the rule of law. All human beings share the same dignity and they are equal in the face of law. To assume anything else as the guiding star of Western democracies would be a mistake indeed. We should never allow such mistakes to grow and to spread across the world. Rule of law protects the weak and can never be given up for power. This is our joint principle and has ever been so since the waves of democratic rule connect both shores of the Atlantic Ocean.

It is therefore unacceptable for many, and I dare say: most Europeans to leave the rule of law aside in the name of fighting Islamic terrorism. We share the principle convictions of fighting terrorism. We fight Islamic terrorism that originates in a totalitarian ideology. We have to bear in mind that Islam as a noble world religion is structurally different from Islamistic ideologies that accept or even preach violence as part of their struggle. We condemn all form of political violence and we are on the side of all victims of barbarian acts of terrorism. On September 11th, all of us in Europe were, as “Le Monde” then wrote, Americans. But with the same determination we must say: We should never give up elements of our own principles and rule of law in fighting terror. This is why most of us consider the prisoners without trial in Guantanamo unacceptable by all standards of Western democracy. We should not play into the hands of those who thrive in their hate against us on the basis of prejudices about the West. We are all Americans again when we fully respect the mechanisms of the rule of law against anybody, including our enemies.

2. I have alluded to the problems of re-connecting the expectations of European citizens and the performance of the institutions of the European Union. I have said that such a situation is a typical challenge for any democracy. It is a challenge of legitimacy. Only by being self-critical can we find the right ways to strengthen legitimacy in our democratic institutions and in the democratic process as such. Before the outbreak of the war in Iraq, I was one of many who believed in what we were told. The threat of Iraq possessing weapons of mass destruction sounded real and imminent. Today, we must painfully admit that we were cheated. This is not something all those should be happy about who are in opposition to the current US Administration anyway. This is not an issue of “I have said so”. It is a matter that nurtures prejudices against Western democracy as such, and not only in the Arab world. We all therefore must re-calibrate our principles. First and foremost, we are strong whenever our words are credible and we do not use opportunistic arguments that later may be labelled “lies”. This is a fundamental matter of principle in public life. Honesty and sincerity are of the essence of the credibility of the Atlantic civilization.

We know that Machiavellian thoughts included the idea of cheating for higher purposes. Some critics say that radical Islam is not free from the same tendency in order to succeed with its ultimate goals. I am not here to discuss all of this. I can only say: We, the elected representatives of Western democracies, should always and under any circumstances consider it a matter of self-respect and a duty we owe to our own dignity and the dignity of all those we are responsible for, to never fall into the trap of cheating which will only play into the hands of those who are pleased to find support for their prejudices against us.

3. At the core of our Western values stands human dignity. On this basis we must engage in the most important intellectual challenge of our time: the dialogue of cultures and civilizations. It will only succeed if we are honest with ourselves, open with each other without hiding behind taboos of all sorts and if we are united in the willingness to work together for the common human good. We might paraphrase John F. Kennedy by saying: Don’t ask what your culture does for you, ask what you can do together with the cultures of others. The list of topics for an honest dialogue among cultures is long. Each of you will have genuine priorities. We might not agree on many interpretations and, moreover, perceptions of each other. But we must engage in the dialogue among cultures if we want to fulfil our obligations as citizens of the world.

The relationship between the Judeo-Christian world and the world of Islam is the most important element on the agenda of the dialogue of cultures. We will not succeed by simply invoking the principle of tolerance, as important as it is. We will succeed with tolerance only if we respect what is dear to each of us, if we better understand what is at the core of each of our cultures and if we are ready to engage in a rational conversation about the principles and prejudices guiding us. This is an extended project, yet we cannot miss any moment in starting it.

Time has come, I believe, to reconnect the European Union and the United States in a new Atlantic partnership. We are no longer the center of our mutual concern or worry. We have succeeded in the security challenge of the 20th century and we have succeeded as strong democracies. We are the pillars of the free world and the affluent world. As such we cannot choose to live on two islands of happiness surrounded by misery, poverty and radicalism. We need to strengthen the mechanisms of our transatlantic community in order to better contribute to the management challenges across the world. That is our destiny in the 21st century.

The agenda of global governance is long. You know most of the issues better than I do. There is hardly any better place to study them and to find academic answers for their resolution than at the John F. Kennedy School of Government. But in order to turn into reality, your ideas ought to be connected with the world of political action. The transatlantic community needs fresh ideas and a strong will for a new beginning. The more we agree on our principles and practise them, the less we give way to prejudices about us. And the more we agree on principles the more we become aware that it would be to our own detriment to believe that the value of transatlantic relations is only a presumption. It is the single most important precondition for each of us to succeed. Nothing in the world can truly happen with sustainable success without agreement between the US and the EU. Much - and much more than so far - can happen lastingly and successfully in the improvement of human conditions and global governance with more coherent actions of the Atlantic community. We must begin again and we must begin by cleansing our principles and the way we practice them.