Europe – the Burden of History

02 Mar 2010

Tony Brown

In his reply to a National Forum on Europe debate in 2005, Commission President Jose Manuel  Barroso made a memorable, emotional, statement on the importance of remembering the history of European integration, beginning with Europe’s emergence from the ruins of World War II.  

“…I ask you to make a small historic exercise. How was Europe sixty years ago? How is Europe now? And how will Europe be in the future? Sixty years ago, I tell you how was Europe. It was Auschwitz, it was the Holocaust. I was in Auschwitz some time ago to commemorate the liberation of that camp. The worst pages of the history of mankind were written in Europe during the Second World War. It was sixty years ago. It was not two or three centuries ago.  That was Europe sixty years ago. But how was Europe thirty years ago more or less? I can tell you in my country it was not a democracy.  I was 17 or 18 years old. I could not read the books I wanted. I could not participate in debate as I wanted. You would go to prison if you attacked our government. That was Portugal in 1974…before our democratic revolution came. And Spain only became a democracy later. That was Europe thirty years ago. How was Europe more or less fifteen years ago?   Poland, Czechoslovakia, Slovenia and then former Yugoslavia, all those countries were under totalitarian communist regimes. Single party, no freedom, that was Europe… The Baltic countries did not even exist as independent countries, they were occupied by the Soviet Union. That was Europe fifteen years ago. Ten years ago, how was Europe?  Srebrenica. It will be in the month of July we are going to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Srebrenica; mass murders, genocide – in Europe, here, very close.   Not so close to Ireland but very close to other Member States of the European Union. That was Europe ten years ago.” 

One might conclude that if President Barroso were speaking today he would feel it appropriate to add another sentence or two, certainly making reference to the implications for Europe of the 9/11 atrocity in New York and the related terrorist outrages in London and Madrid with their continuing fallout in Iraq, Afghanistan and beyond. 

Barroso’s remarks are important in the context of the often repeated assertion that references to the European Union in terms of its origins in the aftermath of World War II are outdated and lack resonance with the generation of the early 21st century. He highlighted the crucial fact that history is not a static concept. We are living history day-by-day. 
 

The historic events recalled by President Barroso can be linked directly to key moments in the evolution of the European Communities / Union.

The immediate aftermath of the World War saw the Monnet/Schuman initiative which led to the Schuman Declaration of 9 May 1950 and to the creation of the Coal and Steel Community and the negotiation of the Treaty of Rome establishing the European Economic Community. 9 May this year will see the 60th anniversary of that key moment in European history. 

The authoritarian, fascist regimes in Salazar’s Portugal, Franco’s Spain and Greece under its military dictatorship all came to a long overdue end in the 1970s and, one by one, the evolution to democracy of these historic European nations was underpinned by the promise, and then the political reality, of accession to the European Communities in the early 1980s. 

The fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Communist Empire in the early 1990s led to the reunion of West and East Germany and the reinstatement of the independent existence of the Baltic republics.  On 1 May 2004 eight former Soviet Bloc states were welcomed into the EU at a ceremony at Aras an Uachtarain.   They were followed in 2007 by Romania and Bulgaria. 

The aftermath of the terrible massacre at Srebenica saw the EU entry of Slovenia and the opening of accession talks with Croatia. A commitment by the European Council to the other countries of the Western Balkans on future EU membership remains a central part of the  overall approach to ensuring peace, stability and prosperity in the region.          

The European Union exists in history and responds to its changing environment in its policies and programmes. Its greatest challenges today –  employment, the financial crisis, climate change, energy, migration and development, terrorism, the emergence of China and the political/military issues of the Middle East - call for united and decisive responses.     

Popular support for the necessary policies requires awareness and understanding. In dealing with the many calls for better communication within the EU and deeper engagement of citizens there is a real need to establish the relevance of the Union and its activities.

In the Irish context experience of the debate on Lisbon indicated a remarkable lack of perspective, historical and contemporary, resulting in negative, insular attitudes. For example, many Irish voters appeared unable to see the significance for the enlarged European Union of the institutional reforms introduced in the treaty as opposed to the sad litany of alleged, and baseless, threats to Irish concerns. 

There is much debate today about the place of education in Ireland’s future recovery and its development as a modern, digital economy.   This is essential as recent comments from key experts in industry and from research institutes confirm. Lord David Puttnam made the following comment in a presentation at the IIEA:  

 “Surely we need to create learning environments in which informed responses to the challenges of the 21st century are encouraged and nurtured – this would be a world in which prejudice and ignorance would hopefully become far better understood for exactly what they are!  And as I suggested at the outset, the crucial factor in creating this responsible learning environment is a successful and confident educational system.” 

A report from the UK based Centre for European Reform commented that: 

“All EU countries aspire to raise productivity and employment without sacrificing their social cohesion.  As EU leaders ponder the content of the EU2020 agenda, they would do well to recognise that education is the closest thing that exists to a magic bullet: better educated societies are more productive, have higher employment rates and are more socially cohesive. Investing in education almost always pays off, for society as much as the individual.”      

This emphasis on education in economic terms is of crucial importance and requires urgent political attention.   But it is equally important to consider the content of education.   In this connection the Oireachtas Sub-Committee on Ireland’s Future in the European Union made a series of important recommendations in its November 2008 report: 

“Enhancement of public understanding of, and engagement with, the European Union can be achieved through civic education programmes.   These may be integrated into school curricula, or targeted more widely within society..... Modern European history, in particular the history of European integration since the 1950s, should be accorded a more prominent place on the Irish school curriculum. Further emphasis should also be placed on making students familiar with the European Union and the importance of Ireland’s membership...... In order to promote engagement with Europe and with other Member States of the Union, the teaching of European languages should be introduced to the Irish primary school curriculum.”    

It might be added that a similar approach to understanding of our national constitutional and political history and structures requires urgent consideration. It became clear during the Lisbon campaigns that there was scant understanding of the relevant provisions of Bunreacht na hEireann. Indeed it was clear that many of those who alleged that Lisbon threatened the Irish Constitution had never read it. Even otherwise well informed individuals seemed unaware that wording in the proposed Constitutional amendment on the status of EU law in Ireland was a technical rewording of an Article that had been inserted first in the 1972 referendum on Ireland’s accession to the EEC and repeated in each successive referendum. 

The significance of history in understanding the EU, and Ireland’s place within it, is beyond argument. But understanding its relevance must not be taken for granted. This poses a real challenge for the educational system which must balance the recognised needs of the digital age with the importance of providing young people with information and insight into the historical, political and economic environment in which they live and work.   

As an independent forum, the Institute does not express any opinions of its own. The views expressed in the article are the sole responsibility of the author.