EU hits Half Century

Even as the EU grapples with tough realities in Europe and the world, its 50th anniversary summit at Berlin was both a time for celebration and reflection

Rajendra Abhyankar Luxembourg

The European Union (EU) celebrated its 50th Anniversary at its summit in Berlin under the German Presidency in the last weekend of March. It stands as a solid economic bloc of 450 million people committed to democracy, secularism and a force in the global economy. Its major role in the WTO-Doha Round negotiations could determine the success of those long-delayed negotiations. Most importantly, the EU has been able to create a foreign policy niche for itself by focusing on the "softer" areas like promotion of human rights, democracy and the rule of law around the world.

In these five decades the very character of the European entity has changed dramatically. From the original six members it now has 27 with Turkey still at the door. The experiment is still the most successful where age-old enmities were laid to rest forever. It still remains a model for other troubled spots round the world. Although the European community did not have a military dimension, it was understood that North Atlantic Treaty Organisation[NATO],(which included countries which were then non-members) would perform that role in the Cold War. Through the years of the Cold War, the EEC (European Economic Community) and NATO together kept the erstwhile Soviet Union’s westward expansion at bay while at the same time harbouring its ambition to integrate Eastern Europe within its fold. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War saw a burgeoning of new states in Europe, all of them eager to join the larger entity. At Berlin, a reunified Germany becomes the vanguard of the EU for the next half century.

The record of the EU so far has been mixed. If its expansion to cover the eastern European nations — implying their joining the community of democratic nations — has been beneficial to the peoples of those countries, the rapid increase of members at varying stages of economic prosperity has exacerbated internal tension on subsidies, unification of markets, single currency and labour mobility. If expansion has promoted diversity, it has also brought in train doubts on the best way to deal with religious and ethnic differences. If the EU perceives itself to be more secure, it still has to effectively the consequences of that difference.

Similarly, while NATO, bereft of its original mission, has assumed a role in out-of-area operations, the EU has moved ahead with developing its own nuclear, military and space dimensions. While economic integration within has generally moved successfully, it has created new disparities which have no solution.

These contradictions had a crucial role in the rejection of the EU’s draft Constitution by France and the Netherlands in 2005, putting paid to Europe’s ambition to become a single entity de jure. Although the Berlin Declaration will express the desire of the member states to chart a way forward on this important issue, the current political leadership crisis does not hold out much hope for an early resolution. We will probably hear high-sounding words on this issue but little by way of a practical way forward.