L'UE en quête de sens: quels sont les objectifs finaux de l'Europe?

Bien que la relance institutionnelle déclenchée par le traité de Lisbonne devrait sortir l’Union européenne de l’impasse, Thierry Chopin de la Fondation Robert Schuman déclare que le texte n’offre que des réponses partielles aux défis que rencontre l’Union, qui à son tour subit un déficit politique. 

Highlighting the bloc’s lack of political direction, the May paper raises issues relating to Europe’s political, economic and international objectives as well as limits to further enlargement. 

Chopin stresses that it is essential to clarify the aims of the EU in order to « define the Union’s goals and shed light on the European project ». 

The author calls for a « politicisation » of the Union to « relaunch » the European project and bring an end to « the institutional crisis ». This would ultimately « orientate the action » of the EU, leading to a « common vision of its future, » he says. 

His paper points out that relaunching new common policies (on issues such as energy, environment, immigration and defence) will not give political meaning to the European project, which « strongly needs to prosper ». 

Regarding enlargement, Chopin calls for a debate on the EU’s final borders, raising the issue of the frontier with Russia. He believes that if the EU is willing to develop « into a real political community, it is obvious that its borders are not extendable to the infinite ». 

Thus he suggests that « as a political entity, » the EU should identify « a minimum of convergent interests and a minimum of feeling of belonging to a common place, a will to develop a project for the future ». 

« Once the European project is defined, obviously some countries will be able to adhere to it, others less, or even not at all. » 

Also, « the question is posed differently for the candidates ». According to Chopin, the greatest thing about the Union is that « since the Maastricht Treaty, a European power seems to have emerged, with diplomatic and military weight on an international level ». 

Chopin concludes that defining the « finality » of the Union is crucial because its aims have become « unreadable ». He calls for a politicisation of the EU to « produce a common vision ».