Download - Time to Use the F Word in Europe
TimetoshouttheFwordinEuropeanpolitics?
Verhofstadt, G., Cohn-Bendit, D. “For Europe!: Manifesto for a Postnational
RevolutioninEurope” CreateSpace,2012-ISBN 1479261882,9781479261888
152pages
Anger inEuropehasnotbeenvoiced solely throughpublicdemonstrationsas
epitomised by the Greek protests. Unrest and dissatisfaction seem to bemountingeveninthesocalled‘elite’.Thisbookiswritteninangerinresponseto
theinability(unwillingness)ofEuropeanpoliticianstodealwiththeeconomiccrisisbut also as a ‘wakeup’ call fornational hierarchies that has chosen to
dismissthepoliticalimpassethatEuropeisexperiencing.
In thisbook co-president of the Greens/European FreeAllianceDanielCohn-
BenditandPresidentoftheALDEgroupintheEuropeanParliamentandformer
PrimeMinisterofBelgiumGuyVerhofstadthave joined forces (and somewhatconvergedpoliticalstances)toarguethatFederalismisthewayoutofthecrisis
andtocallforactiontowardsthecreationofafederalEurope.
Released in six languages (Dutch, English, German,Italian, and Spanish) “For
Europe”isa90-pagemanifestothatambitiouslyandprovocativelyaimstostarta“post-nationalrevolutioninEurope,abandoningthe“navelgazingofitsnation-
states”.Init,thetwoauthorsproposeaconstituentassemblyfor2014thattheyenvisage will lay down theprinciples of a federalEurope andwill be put to
approvalbyreferendainallmemberstates.Followingtheresultsmemberswill
havetheoptiontojoinorwithdrawfromthefederation.
FollowingthemanifestothereisasectioninwhichJeanQuatremer,ajournalist
ofLibérationandblogauthor,interviewstheco-authorsofthisbook.Somepartof this interview and of the manifesto are available for downloading from
www.andreversailleediteur.com/upload/args/cbveuropeconsult.pdf
ItmustbegiventotheauthorsthatutteringtheFwordnowinEuropesoundsquite refreshing amongst the worrying resurgenceofpopulistand nationalist
movements.Italsotakesalotofpoliticalbraveryastheyareeffectivelycallingfor doingawaywithnation-statesonce for all and goingdown the avenue of
post-national politics. In this respect Cohn-Bendit and Verhofstadt’s proposal
comesacrossas farmorerevolutionarythananyrevivingreformspresentedinthepast (forexampleDelors)and,assuch, itwillnot godowneasilywellon
most MEPs’ ears. However, it’s often through crises that things can change
radically.MaybeforallEuropeansitisthetimetoshouttheFwordalongwiththeauthorsofthisbookiftheycareaboutthefutureofEurope.