EU Should Become Union of European Regions, Expert Says

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3525834,00.html
European Union | 31.07.2008


The nation-state has had its day, writes political scientist Winfried
Boettcher. He calls instead for a Europe built along regional lines
that would help meet people's cultural and economic needs.

Winfried Böttcher is an emeritus professor of politics at the RWTH
Aachen University, specializing in European politics. He is
particularly interested in the concept of a federal Europe.

The approach towards unifying Europe has not changed since the
founding of the Coal and Steel Community over 50 years ago. The absence
of long-term goals means that cooperation continues to function on a
trial-and-error basis. Varying interests, needs, functions and tasks
continue to search for adequate organizational forms.

The talk is still about moving towards the ever closer integration of
the peoples of Europe. Even today, no one can bring themselves to say
that Europe is amalgamating. People approach Europe pragmatically
without knowing what form it should ultimately assume. No one asks how
we would like to live in Europe in the future. The nation-states, as
the enablers of so-called European integration, prefer this
functionalist method if only because it secures them the largest
entitlements in terms of sovereignty.

The future is federal

By contrast, I believe that Europe will only have a future if a
federal concept places the normative question at the center of the
debate. Unlike the existing functionalist concept, this idea is based
on a clear integration approach. According to Johan Galtung, this is a
process in which two or more political protagonists come together to
form a new protagonist. Correspondingly, Europe could be united
politically, judicially, economically and socially, while preserving
its cultural plurality.

This is conditional upon the relinquishing of national, power-oriented
sovereignty and submitting to a common will. The nation-state has
fulfilled its historical function. Nowadays, it is one of the major
troublemakers in the European integration process. The theory of
sovereignty -- which is connected to state and the good of the state
and which separates politics and morality and gives absolute primacy to
the goals of the state -- is no longer viable. The citizen is the
central democratic figure in our counter model, which is based on a
concept of a Europe of the regions.

Democracy brought closer to home

Humans, as supranational beings, are politically active in their own
regions where they are directly affected by political decisions.
Regional society, in the form of civil society, is responsible for
making decisions that are politically necessary. In the ideal scenario,
every single inhabitant of a region is also an active politician,
albeit on various levels.

The theoretical superstructure of a Europe of regions is manifested in
the principle of reason of region, as a kind of socialized reason of
state. The reason of region means that a region determines its goals
according to its own rules, on the basis of the structural principle of
"subsidiarity" on a sub-national level, i.e. within the framework of a
constitutional, federal European structure. Each region lives according
to its own "reason," deploying its own endogenous potential and taking
into account its chief particularities in cultural, social and, to a
large extent, political autonomy and self-realization.

Rethinking subsidiarity

Regionalism and subsidiarity are inherently interdependent. However,
in our understanding of subsidiarity we go far beyond what is stated in
article five of the Treaty of Amsterdam. We define subsidiarity as
"actively supporting a nation-state or the European Union, to develop
local and regional subsystems so that democratic participation is
improved, even if this means accepting a loss of power at the other
levels."

If the principle of subsidiarity is understood in this way, it
supports and strengthens an autonomous, lively regionalism. By this, we
understand something that is close to people's everyday lives and is
able to solve the problems that arise, if possible with the united and
democratic participation of everyone involved. The attempt to build a
Europe imposed from above is susceptible to crisis. As the EU continues
to expand, it will become increasingly vulnerable. Europe's chances
come from below, if it helps to meet people's educational, cultural,
leisure and welfare needs and if "normal" employees get the feeling
that they would be worse off without the European Union.

Breaking open encrusted power structures

To sum up: the future of the European Union can only survive both
domestically and internationally, if the bloc develops a constitution
that aims to set up a regional, federal system. The structural
principle of subsidiarity will break open encrusted power structures
and lead to an efficient overhaul of existing power structures. The
focus will be on living democracy. It will be tangible and close to the
people. As a result, it will be possible to develop adequate strategies
for shaping our own European future and lending a European dimension to
the future shape of the world. Winfried Boettcher (jg)