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The claim that "Enlightenment values" define the soul of Europe would be rather odd
The claim that "Enlightenment values" define the soul of Europe would be rather odd
We do not admire the Enlightenment for reasons of national spirit, but on the contrary for its universal worth.
Ian Buruma, Financial Times, 1/4 2007
The writer is Henry R. Luce Professor of Human Rights and Journalism, Bard College
“We must give a soul to Europe,” said Angela Merkel, German chancellor, whose country currently presides over the EU. Speaking at a recent conference entitled A Soul for Europe, the German filmmaker Wim Wenders struck a similar note. He fretted about a spiritual vacuum where the heart of Europe should be.
It is a Romantic notion, of course, this idea of a national or continental soul. For 19th-century German patriots it meant a national spirit, expressed in poetry and philosophy, which challenged French rationalism. For conservatives between the two world wars, and to many Europeans of Mr Wenders’ generation, it means liberation from American materialism.
Secular Europeans who would never set foot in a church or synagogue often oppose the membership of Turkey in the EU, not just because of problems with human rights but because it is not Christian. Few people say this openly, of course, for fear of looking prejudiced. They prefer to talk of the Enlightenment as the thing that holds Europe together.
But the claim that "Enlightenment values" define the soul of Europe would be rather odd, for values of free speech and scientific inquiry are shared by people all over the world. We do not admire the Enlightenment for reasons of national spirit, but on the contrary for its universal worth.
So perhaps Europe’s 50th birthday should be an occasion to halt the hyperbole. European co-operation began as a practical economic project, not a spiritual one. That is as it should be. The Enlightenment has taught us that enlightened self-interest often produces the highest value.
Jag ser ingen annan historisk möjlighet att säkra fred och frihet än att successivt bygga en federation av nationalstater mellan Ryssland och Atlanten, Ishavet och Medelhavet.
Detta är ett arbete utan modell och utan slut.
Steg för steg bygger vi ett gemensamt demokratiskt beslutsfattande i alla de frågor som vårt samarbete omfattar.
Rom byggdes inte på en dag
Carl Bildt, DN Debatt 19/8 2003
Det var redan i Maastricht 1991 som det hela gick snett.
Ett framgångsrikt statsbygge måste vila på en tydlig gemensam identitet
Stefan Hedlund, Timbros Smedjan, 23/6 2005