02 October 2013

President Van Rompuy: "The State of Europe - Tough choices for a troubled Europe"

I am often asked what is the most important lesson that I draw from the experience of the past four years. To me, there are several but one strikes me above all: the awareness of our interdependence, which is much deeper than it has ever been in the past, especially in the eurozone. It has not been an easy – nor a painless – realisation. But today, we know that what happens in one country, especially in the eurozone, can and will affect all the others. “Economic policies are a matter of common interest”, says the Treaty: today, this has become a daily, tangible reality. We've experienced that national choices don’t happen in a vacuum. That the eurozone is much more than the sum of its parts. That it is not enough to try to solve each country's situation in isolation. In short, that the overall picture is absolutely key. This deep realisation will change, and is already changing, the way we work together as a Union, as a currency zone. National and European interests coincide more and more.

In line with this interdependence, a second lesson to draw is obvious: a common currency needs common policies and a stronger common architecture for the Economic and Monetary Union. All the ongoing work to reinforce the foundations of the euro area derives directly from this realisation. Rebalancing in the eurozone is already under way, in terms of balance of payments and fiscal deficits. The "Banking Union" is slowly but surely becoming a reality. Economic and fiscal coordination – essential for our Economic Union – has never been so thorough. All these efforts are a key part of our growth and jobs strategy.

In the longer run, turning the EMU into a genuine economic and monetary union will mean even further financial, economic and budgetary integration – significant steps also politically, as leaders are well aware. This was at the heart of my reflection in the Reports I presented last year to the European Council. And for a stronger eurozone, I will make sure this work moves forward, we need an "'ever closer" eurozone.

Just as leaders discovered their interdependence, so did the citizens. Within our Union, it means the end of the age of polite indifference between the peoples in our countries (or sometimes impolite).

For the very first time, Europe is now in the heart of the political debate in each country. The integration via the euro is so profound that Europe has become part of daily life. We are not living the nationalisation of European politics, no, we see the Europeanisation of national politics. This is a third lesson. Europe is not a soft idea anymore but a firm reality.

Ultimately, I am convinced that this will make our common endeavour stronger. Provided we avoid the ingredients of modern political life: clichés, slogans, caricatures. We may know them all by heart, and we can deplore or demonise them; but we can also consider that it is natural that it takes time for the public to digest the enormous discovery of what it really means to share a Union, a currency. The length and depth of the economic slowdown in many countries have made it more difficult to gain support for our policies.

Indeed, to some extent solidarity is a new idea in the Union. Of course, there has been some solidarity in the European budget for some time already, but it is minor compared to what we have to do now. So in fact what we are seeing today is not "less solidarity" or solidarity coming under attack, but rather the first real test of solidarity for our Union.

I know the European idea is under pressure in a lot of our countries, if not all. Never in its history has it needed to be defended as much as it does today, politically and at all levels. But ultimately, we will convince people not with rhetoric and words alone (even if words are needed), but with results, with growth, with jobs.

In all the immediate action for ‘survival’, we never lost sight of the long term. See our efforts to build a stronger monetary union, see our insistence on structural economic reforms to raise our competitiveness to prepare for an ageing population, see how we carefully avoided to fight this crisis by sowing the seeds for the next one. There are no quick-wins.

We will come out of this more resilient, I am convinced of that. It is not an easy road, but one that will reward us in time. If not yet by next year's voters, then surely by later ones, and in any case by future historians!

The political will of leaders to preserve Europe's unity, to preserve Europe's future cannot be underestimated. The rest of the world has discovered our determination, a determination that was top often underestimated. We have shown it these past five years, and we will continue to do so in the years ahead.

Full speech

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