The 'state of the Union' amidst the crisis

EPC Sixty-Minute Briefing

04.10.2011, Brussels

Janis A. Emmanouilidis and Johannes Laitenberger

Chair of an EPC Sixty-Minute Briefing with Johannes Laitenberger, Head of Cabinet of the European Commission President José Manuel Barroso.

European integration was born out of the ambitions of the Member States as a means of overcoming divisions and providing a framework for shaping economic prosperity and sustaining Europe’s place and role in the world. Step by step, these objectives have been translated into impressive politico-institutional structures and policies in the framework of the EU.

Today, this historic asset is being severely challenged. European integration faces major internal and external challenges, while Member States seem reluctant to provide leadership and put the EU framework and its potential to its full use. The euro crisis is putting European integration to its greatest test so far, casting doubt on the fundamentals of the EU.

Despite the progress made on democratic governance, legitimacy is being eroded, European solidarity is under severe strain, and there is a sense that the EU has lost direction with long-term vision and leadership sadly lacking. Europe seems to be muddling through while new centres of growth and assertiveness are emerging and contesting the old continent’s role in the world.

Just one week after President Barroso’s speech on the 'state of the Union' in the European Parliament, this Sixty-Minute Briefing was a timely occasion for Johannes Laitenberger to reflect on these issues and to take the Union’s temperature at this critical juncture. 

For more information about the event see the EPC website here.