A New Congress of Europe
Sir Graham Watson
Audio Transcript
Hello, I’m Graham Watson. I’m a former member of the European Parliament, where I served to the Southwest of England and Gibraltar for some 20 years. And I’m honoured to have been invited to record some thoughts about the future of Europe for this debate.
I think Europe is at a crossroads.
I think the people of Europe have many serious concerns about the way the continent is run and many criticisms. But I think sometimes these criticisms are not very well thought through, because in reality if the European Union did not exist we would have to invent it. We’d have to invent it because of the amount of trade that we do between our countries. Because of the extent of movement of people — people using the benefits of the European Union to work abroad, to study abroad, perhaps to marry and live abroad. We need the European Union for our security in a world in which super powers like China or the United States of America sometimes do things which we dislike, because European values are perhaps different from theirs.
I think what is really at stake at present is a fundamental question. And that is not about Europe from its beginnings to now. It’s about the Europe of the future.
Do we see ourselves as a community of values and therefore perhaps as a community that is moving towards what you might call a country called Europe, or do we see ourselves as 28 separate nation-states coming together to cooperate where we believe it’s in our interests, but remaining apart where it is not?
If we choose to be a country called Europe, what are the implications of that? Does it mean we might have to speak a common language, or will different national languages still persist? If we remain a community of 28 sovereign states, is there a risk of one day those countries may again go to war with each other?
The European Union has brought a lot of good for the citizens of Europe which is often today taken for granted. If you are a citizen of one European country, you have access to hospital treatment — if you need it — in any other country. You have the right to use your mobile phone across the European Union. You have legal protections if you are involved in civil law proceedings of any kind divorce or issues of child custody. You have a lot of access to protection under the European Convention of Human Rights from the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice. You have a vast swathe of laws in consumer protection against being ripped off by untrustworthy businesses.
All of these things have developed as a result of European cooperation thus far and will no doubt develop further. But I believe the people of Europe would be happier if they knew what the final destination was likely to be. And perhaps we need a new Congress of Europe to decide that. I’d be very interested to know what you think.
Sir Graham Watson (@sirgrahamwatson)
Sir Graham Watson served as a Member of the European Parliament for South West England from 1994 until 2014 and was the first leader of the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe. Between 2011 and 2015 he was the President of the ALDE Party.
