A United States of Europe: Fantasy or reality?

6.30PM, Tuesday 9th April

Press Club Brussels

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Are EU elites building a United States of Europe? Is it a real political project? A utopia that European elites dream about? Or a slogan used by sovereigntist political forces to fight windmills?

The idea of a U. S. E. has occupied the imaginations of federalists and their critics alike. For some, each treaty or charter, every piece of major legislation and every crisis provides a clear signal that Europe is becoming more unified, more federalist, and more powerful. This is “ever closer union”. Yet in public, EU elites often deny that there is any grand project to turn the EU into a superstate.

Indeed, it is well known that EU elites usually like to “remain evasive” on the question – to recall the words of Viviane Reding, former member of the European Commission and strong believer in the United States of Europe. More profoundly, even proponents of the idea prefer to often hide their intentions – clouding their work towards a European superstate in nebulous formulations, rowbacks and euphemisms.

Perhaps the first clues can be found in the statements of EU elites. As former EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker put it: “We decide on something, leave it lying around and wait and see what happens. If no one kicks up a fuss, because most people don't understand what has been decided, we continue step by step until there is no turning back.”

So, is the United States of Europe a real political project, and, if so, can we uncover how it works? A new report from MCC Brussels seeks to do just that, tracing the development of the superstate dream in the words and actions of its key proponents. This event will be an occasion “to kick up a fuss” and reveal what the EU elites have been doing – both in plain sight and also behind the back of European people. We will assess past institutional transformation of the EU “by stealth” and open the discussion on future EU reform plans.

At the bottom of this discussion is a question of sovereignty. Proponents of a superstate suggest that sovereignty is an outdated remnant of a previous era, no longer fit for the multinational challenges Europe faces. They insist that only “More Europe” can solve our problems. But sovereignty seems to hold a stubborn attraction for the peoples of Europe. Join MCC Brussels as we try to uncover the truth behind the slogans: Who wants a United States of Europe?

Speakers

  • Jorge Buxadé Villalba MEP
  • Bence Ákos Gát, Head of EU affairs, MCC Brussels, author, MCC Brussels’ report, ‘The United States of Europe - The Reality behind the Narratives’
  • Jerzy Kwaśniewski, President of the Board, Ordo Iuris (Poland)

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