EU political community: for changes or for show

On Oct 6, 2022, European Political Community, a new pan-European organization proposed by the EU, held its first summit in Prague, capital of Czech. The inaugural event was attended by leaders of governments and EU organizations. Volodymyr Zelensky, President of Ukraine, joined online via video calls. The summit focused on a series of important challenges facing the continent against the backdrop of the Ukraine crisis, including social stability, energy crises, climate change and refugee issues. Reportedly, the event aims at coordinating between European countries and promoting dialogue and cooperation on issues of common interest.

This was, however, a large gathering with its share of undercurrents, which can lead to skepticism about the effectiveness of the unity.

Just after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, then French president Mitterrand proposed the initiative of “European Confederation.” In May this year, Enrico Letta, former Italian Prime Minister, now president of Jacque Delors Institute, suggested that an European Confederation that consists of EU members and its candidate countries be established, which will help consolidate Europe’s geopolitical system to counter any destabilizing changes that the Ukraine crisis may bring about. Emmanuel Macron, president of France, soon followed suit, calling for a “European Political Community”. His proposal was then joined by German Prime Minister Olaf Scholz and Alexander De Croo, Prime Minister of Belgium. Macron believes that such an attempt will enlarge the continent’s sphere of influence and turn Europe from a passive participator into an active force in dealing with international affairs.

Some Euro-centric comments see this summit as a manifestation of the shared volition of European nations against Russia, and call it a miniature UN general assembly. However, as some have pointed out, there was no joint declarations or any documents of the kind coming out of summit. It merely confirmed that the gathering would be held every six months and it would be hosted by Morocco next time, followed by Spain and UK. This reveals the summit as more of a anti-Russia show than an effective meeting among European leaders.

Europe has been keen to create groups and organizations: EU, Eurozone, Council of Europe and the European Political Community, just to name a few. Some countries are inevitably taking multiple roles in different political bodies at the same time. Similar events are constantly being held, and repetitive agendas put forward over and over again. How can the community strike agreements between 44 members, as many are now questioning, when EU, which consists of only 27 members, can't?

As globalization accelerates, countries around the world find themselves tied to each other in an unprecedentedly tight way. The summit centers on the Ukraine crisis, yet it chose to bar Russia. This exclusion will not help the challenges and crises facing Europe. Currently, western media is fraught with anti-Russia sentiments, and the Europeans, following “political correctness,” are also thoughtlessly against Putin. Yet thankfully, a small proportion of them still have the courage to give different voices. Angela Merkel recently called for western countries to adopt more serious attitudes towards Putin and his words, which is an example of her political wisdom rather than cowardice or pacifism.

Contributed by Liu Jun, correspondent of Guangming Daily in Brussels

Translated by Wang Jinhong