Sir,

 

As a democrat and a liberal from 'Old Europe', I cannot – with all respect - share this opinion. The idea of a cultural identity as 'cementing' the European Union is based on something that I can only describe as “unicity" thinking, and in no way corresponds to the pluralist society that has been a major achievement of our 'Old Europe'.

 

Because of all the uncertainty over the future of the European Constitution, the quest for a comprehensive solution is understandable; European romanticists are also inclined to seek a spiritual and Utopian solution and even former European Commission president, Jacques Delors, has suggested spiritual renewal as the best way to get out of Europe's present crisis.

 

I myself remain profoundly suspicious of great European dreams, fed by the concept of a common cultural identity. History has repeatedly shown that such concepts lead nowhere. Each national cultural identity is a social construction that results from fortuitous historical circumstances. They cannot, therefore, offer a firm basis for the construction of Europe. A European identity is not to be found in the past, but in the future.

 

The most viable vehicles for European integration have to be decided upon in an empirical and realistic manner. In the 1950s, the most important vehicle for European integration was fear of war. That “Pax Europaea”, reconciling former enemies within Europe, has protected us from conflict so well that is now unthinkable. Europe is also the child of the Cold War. All the internal and external threats have disappeared as a result of European unification and the implosion of the communist system. Thus, peace in Europe has been achieved, and has become a common good.

 

Now that there are no strong external factors pressing Europeans to cooperate and integrate more closely, romanticists are tending to project a European dream that goes much further than the European integration process itself. The new challenges that Europe has to meet range from globalisation to the fight against terrorism, and from peace-keeping beyond Europe's own borders to helping improve the welfare of the deprived and underprivileged around the world. This is not merely a defensive project, it is based on our belief in Europe's capacity to be a global actor.

 

In support of this vision, I would add that I fully subscribe to Karl Popper's vision in his 1952 book “The Open Society and its Enemies”, that the enemies of an open democratic society are those who advocate comprehensive, if not totalitarian, solutions. The way to develop our European society in a democratic manner is by what I would call piecemeal engineering; Only by searching for solutions to concrete problems will the European Union find its way, and that means we will have to learn through trial and error how to shape the most appropriate policies.