BERLIN – Last week, Europeans were trembling at the possibility that the doomsday scenarios would come true for them because of a massive crisis in Greece.
Instead, Greece obediently voted for a series of laws that will allow it – at least temporarily – to fix up its economy and approve longer-term measures across the European Union.
These measures inevitably mean greater integration of economic policies of different nations, which skeptics are already referring to as partial loss of sovereignty.
As far as Ukraine goes, it means remaining sidelined for even longer. That’s not because Europe has its own economic and other problems and couldn’t care less about us. That’s because we’re so far away from sharing their values and thinking in European categories.
A protester prepares to hit riot police with a stick during clashes in Athens on June 29. Greece approved more austerity measures needed to avert default in a vote that calmed markets but triggered a second day of riots that left dozens injured and the capital blanketed with tear gas. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
The recent events in Greece, important as they are, impressed me much less than the arguments of some European leaders for the need to approve harsh, unpopular measures in the country in exchange for the no-less-unpopular bill paid by the rest of Europe to bail out its sick economy. To my great surprise, the arguments mostly rotated around values.
It went without saying that economic and financial lessons needed to be learned from the crisis – for instance, automatic and tough consequences have to be introduced for the slightest deviation from European rules on budget deficits and inflation that countries are supposed to stick to, but often don’t.
Jerzy Buzek, president of the European Parliament, talking in Berlin on June 28, kicked off his speech with the point that the Greek crisis is the most serious in the history of united Europe, and therefore the first thing Europeans need to do is go back to their fundamental values.
First of all, it’s democracy. He talked about Egypt and Tunisia, where in the winter people come out onto the streets and were ready to risk everything for a chance to get democracy and rule of law. “They trust our values and our history,” he concluded.
But democracy won’t feed your children, and that’s why his next thesis was that every European has to see its fruits on their table. And to achieve that, the least you need is to stick together and support Greece in tough times.
Can you be sure default will only affect Greece?. When Lehman Brothers defaulted, the German economy shrank by 6 percent.
– Jerzy Buzek, president of the European Parliament
“Can you be sure default will only affect Greece?” he asked. “When Lehman Brothers defaulted, the German economy shrank by 6 percent.”
Lehman Brothers was an American bank, but the point Buzek and like-minded leaders tried to make was that the global economy is so integrated that it’s no longer possible to shut off the aftershocks of events like bankruptcies of a country or a corporation.
That’s the reason why the European Union and the International Monetary Fund are lending Greece 12 billion euros. And in return, it promises to live by its means.
The Europeans talk a lot about why they have to stick together. “Even the big countries would be too small for the challenges. Only jointly can we solve them,” said Gunther Krichbaum, head of the European relations committee in the German parliament.
A Union is needed to make sure than there is Airbus in the aviation industry, not just Boeing; to make sure that European Galileo can compete with American GPS in space; to be able to stand up to the global terrorism threats, including cyber-terrorism; to guarantee a strong position in gas negotiations with Russia. The list goes on.
Because of the crisis in Greece, the Union will have to move to a new level. The economic policies of 27 European Union members will inevitably have to be more coordinated. On the other hand, this will be just a new stage in a long process.
The introduction of the euro in 1999-2002 coordinated the monetary policies of European countries; then came various institutions and treaties. The 2009 Lisbon Treaty was one of them, replacing the never-born Constitution.
One of the newest developments was the appointment of a European foreign minister, or, to be precise, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton. She speaks with a single voice for all European nations.
All this became possible precisely because of the common values that Buzek was talking about. They are the glue that keeps Europe together.
Looking back at my own home, I ask myself whether Ukraine has enough of that glue to stick to the process of European integration declared by the majority of our politicians. The answer, of course, lies in our values.
Here they are: political persecution of the opposition is commonplace, as is their rudeness to judges in court. The last remaining stronghold of free media, the Internet, is under siege by prosecutors and lawmakers. As far as the economy goes, many markets are being monopolized by people close to or in the government.
Any questions?
“The European idea has had better days. But its renaissance will be the brighter,” said German lawmaker Krichbaum.
It’s a shame that Ukraine will only see a glimpse of that shine from far away.
Kyiv Post editor Katya Gorchinskaya can be reached at [email protected]
