Politicization of Europe without the Peoples of Europe?

• • 
  • Presentation speakers
    • Carles José i Mestre, Department of Philosophy, University of Barcelona, Spain

  Abstract:

  Many of the most relevant Treaties regarding European Union include explicit references to the “peoples of Europe” (cf. Preamble to the Treaty of Rome, for instance, or Preambles to Maastricht and Lisbon Treaties), even as entities not reducible to Member States, as in the Solemn Declaration on EU (1983), where the ten heads of state and government confirmed there “their commitment to progress towards an ever closer union among the peoples and Member States of the European Community”). These mentions of the “peoples” of Europe can be seen as just another way of referring to the different sets of citizens, but we will defend that this persistence in the use of the word is related to recognizing that the political construction of Europe can’t neglect Community factors and that, in any case, that construction will not succeed if these factors are neglected. In order to do so, first of all we need to show that European communities or peoples do indeed exist (as specifically different from the sets of citizens regarding European states), and evidence will be provided in this regard. Then we will show how Community factors have been neglected in the political construction of Europe up to this point (especially regarding democratic procedures), and the probable effects of that negligence with regard to the “disenchantment” of many citizens of member states within the European Union. Finally, as a theoretical duty fulfilment, some attempts to respond to this (unsatisfactory) general situation will be offered, paying special attention to the concrete question of who has to decide and how in this political construction of Europe.

 

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