We live in a time when
where the increasing complexity and acceleration of change overwhelms people around the world
- Economic wars lead to a brutalization of economic customs.
- The warning signs of climate change are obvious. And yet, individual people believe that the problem at national borders could be stopped by decree.
- The inequality between rich and poor, east and west or north and south, between old and young, and women and men puts our sense of justice to a test.
- Technological progress captures the last corners of our lives. No one can predict with certainty whether an invention will turn out to be a blessing or a curse. Fearing international competition, the spirit is freed in the bottle before one understands its essence.
The European Dilemma – United in Dissent
he list of changes could be continued at will. We European citizens have great expectations of our politicians in Brussels and our national governments. We would like to see answers to our questions and concrete measures to secure our personal and shared future. A policy as an “art of the possible” must fail as insufficient in the face of the sheer mass of challenges; Radical solo actions of a Member State, on the other hand, are contrary to the nature of an alliance.
Without fundamental changes, however, the EU will have no future. For example, distributional struggles and recriminations between the representatives of the people have long since led to the crossing of red lines.
Disruptive policy change sought
ut what is the alternative and how do we ensure the European Union’s ability to act in the long term? The solutions can be found in the here and now; in addition to foresight, we also need a pragmatic policy that solves people’s everyday problems in a concrete way. Many of these solutions are available in the middle of the European population, without systematically raising this ‘wealth of experience and action’. If good solutions to problems are to be given a chance in everyday European politics, the structures and processes must be fundamentally rethought. We need new bridges between problem solvers and decision-makers.
Out of the Box Approach
he aim of the initiators of the Europe Future Workshop are to present a holistic proposal to EU policymakers on how to regain the European Union’s ability to act in competition with other nations. All EU citizens are invited to participate actively in the further development of these proposals. This not only perpetuates the EU’s success story, but also raises it to a new level. The rediscovery and reinterpretation of solidarity serves as a guiding idea for all subsequent considerations.
