“Greece is not the worst crisis of the European Union”
Le Monde.fr | |Propos recueillis par Marc-Olivier Bherer
For the American constitutionalist Bruce Ackerman, European hesitation regarding conflicts in Greece and Ukraine stems from the continent’s deep cultural crisis. A lack of understanding is undermining the European Union’s institutional legitimacy. To escape from this predicament, Europe’s 28 members have to reconnect with their citizens and strengthen ties with the United States.
Europe is in a race against time to find an agreement that would allow Athens to pay its creditors. However, you claim that this is not the continent’s worst crisis. Why ?
I’m convinced that a last minute solution will be reached on the Greek issue. This kind of confrontation is common in large blocs where the political scene consists of different regions fighting for resources. In the United States, the southern, less affluent regions attempt to make the northern regions share their wealth. It’s the same thing in Europe. French farmers have proven to be very efficient at this little game. Modern tensions regarding Greece’s future are therefore not surprising. The real issue is elsewhere: there is a legitimacy crisis in Europe.
What kind of legitimacy crisis are you referring to given that all European governments are elected ?
Let’s go back ten years, the French referendum on the European constitution in 2005 marked a turning point. In that era, France was still an economic power and was even doing better than Germany. What was Valéry Giscard d’Estaing doing? As President of the European convention that devised the EU’s constitutional project, he attempted to rally the continent’s citizens behind this text. The French method of treaty ratification by referendum served as an example. The British Prime Minister Tony Blair committed himself to organizing a comparable vote in his country if France voted yes.
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But, in an ironic twist, the French rejected their own method of legitimization on May 29, 2005. Since then, the EU has been attempting to sway the populace. The Lisbon treaty, which reuses certain elements of the constitutional project, was adopted in 2007 without passing through a peoples' vote, except in Ireland.
Today, sadly, France is no longer equal to Germany, and the balance of power has changed. Europe is governed by Berlin, which prefers the technocratic route to popular sovereignty. Which leads us to this impasse on the Greek issue. German rigidity is unfortunate, but characteristic of an elite hostile to a popular movement like the one lead by the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. France remains silent. It’s a shame !
You mention conflicts between different approaches to achieving legitimacy. Could you go into more detail ?
Europe tries to reconcile three constitutional traditions. There is first of all the revolutionary tradition, still maintained today by France but also by the United States and whose origin dates back to the 18th Century. Great importance is attached to the popular awakening and massive mobilizations in favor of fundamental changes. The referendum plays a decisive role in this case because it relies on popular sovereignty. One should remember its emergence during the French revolution, before Napoleon abused it, and much later how de Gaulle made use of it. In the United States, without a referendum, the Civil rights revolution of the 1960’s was spurred on by a massive popular movement.
Second of all there is a more elite track, of which the most eminent examples in Europe are prevalent in Germany and Spain. The Germans are wary of popular movements since the rise of Nazism. After the Second World War, the reconstruction of political institutions and thereby the written constitution was entrusted to the elite. The Allies wanted to hold a referendum adopting this text, but the founders of the Federal Republic of Germany rejected the idea. For them, the parliamentary vote was enough. In Spain, we find a similar turn of events after the death of Franco in 1975. There was a large consensus amongst prominent Spaniards from Santiago Carrillo, head of the communist party to Vicente Enrique y Tarancón, cardinal of Madrid who dreaded the return of civil war and thus mass movements.
There is finally a third tradition, this time British, where the governing class is sufficiently astute to contain revolutionary uprisings. Their power is maintained by making strategic concessions. This governing class knows how to integrate the most reasonable radicals into the institutional framework. Compared to the German system, the break with the public is not as definitive, except for the most extreme elements that are quickly marginalized.
One senses your preference for the Franco-American tradition of popular involvement, but European voting generally expresses defiance against the EU. How can we overcome this ?
One can only hope for the birth of a massive social movement, but you can’t order that. The financial crisis of 2008 and the ensuing debt crisis were generally followed by victories for the political right in Europe. It’s staggering! But let us recognize that the left still hasn't recovered from the death of Marxism.
In these conditions, how are we to rally citizens? Together with my Stanford colleague James Fishkin, we propose the creation of collaborative polls, a model that we tested in 22 countries. What does it involve? We assemble a diverse range of citizens representing a given country for a day of debate. A document summarizing the issues at stake is handed out. We invite the politicians from all standpoints to express themselves for an hour in front of this assembly. Their propositions are then debated in small groups of 15 people. Then politicians have to answer their questions.
Our studies have shown that this process has made citizens feel more engaged with politics. The creation of such debate days can revitalize polls before a vote and further mobilize citizens. Political representatives must also defend their positions in front of these groups, without the back up of their staff. These assemblies would have a deep civic signification. The United Kingdom should organize similar consultations in anticipation of the referendum on its eventual exit from the EU. Europe should do the same. The cost is minimal.
What role can the United States play in the European crisis ?
NATO is at the heart of the Ukrainian crisis. It’s one of the institutions that we share, but we now have to rebuild it. Alas! The tie between America and Europe has been broken. After the Second World War, the United Nations (UN) and other international institutions were set up to reconstruct global order. After the cold war, nothing was accomplished! The American president at the time, George W. H. Bush, was a product of American internationalism. He contemplated a new Marshall plan for Eastern Europe. But because of the Iraq war in 1991, the United States directed their attention to the Middle East and forgot about Europe. This trend was magnified by the tragic attacks on September 11.
For the moment, Washington is still defending the Eastern European border against Russia. But time is running out because the military interventions of the last few years have worn the Americans out. They have come to prefer playing a less important role on the international stage.
We have to change tack in the next ten years, at the end of which Europe will have to assume its defense responsibilities: rearming and creating a common military force. Stronger continental cohesion would be enough to make Russia, a superpower losing steam, back off. Vladimir Putin is suggesting nothing more than a watered down nationalism far from USSR communism, which had a universal scope and attracted followers abroad. Today, the Russian economy is winding down and the population is aging. It is unnecessary then to fear the return of the cold war. A little determination in our commitments would be enough to make the Russian adversary recede.
You insist on the importance of an alliance between Americans and Europeans. On what basis can we reconstruct such an alliance ?
The political project of the EU and the United States for the next 25 years should consist of defending the Enlightenment in demonstrating its relevance today. Social justice must also be put at the center of debate. We are witnessing an alarming accumulation of wealth. Europe lives, among other concerns, under the threat of xenophobic nationalism stemming both from the right and the left. In the United States, plutocracy reigns. Only a union between the EU and the United States can fight off these plagues.
Bruce Ackerman is a law and political science professor at Yale University (Connecticut).
English translation by Anna Windemuth
For a French version of the article, click here.
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lecteur critique 24/06/2015 - 01h22
pourquoi ne pas donner ici la traducton française en renvoyant un lien vers la version en anglais ?
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citoyen 23/06/2015 - 22h46
In French, please !
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meleze 23/06/2015 - 15h28
Il est évident que l'Europe est profondément divisée entre les pacifistes et les nationalistes de telle sorte que les négociations sur la dette grecque cachent les points communs entre Tsipras et Merkel qui tous les deux négocient d'une façon bilaterale avec la Russie. Tot ou tard il faudra bien faire intervenir Heidegger, qui ecrivit en 1942 un "Parménide" pour expliquer cet attelage germano-grec,
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