Introduction.
"The European Union has been experiencing hard times, in a context that progressively gets more unfriendly to its encompassing and ambitious project, both in the internal and external fronts.
It is perhaps time to stop and ponder whether the direction of its efforts, and the priorities that have been set do really match the present reality -in terms of balancing the various forces and emerging powers at stake, as well as the positioning of the bloc itselfand lead to the right path of a coherent and influent, model regional integration, desired - in different ways- by all its members.
Internally, the numerous transformations taking place, with unavoidable changes in the German political-economic leadership of the Union, the thinly sustainable stability in Italy provided by Mario Draghi, the steady though slow and wisely disguised decline of France, together with divergent though not necessarily anti-Union evolutions in significant representatives of the former Soviet Bloc, are a few of the more than nuisances to plague the already confusing management of 27 nations that persistently refrain to get closer. It rightly repeats the mantra that its strength lies in the union of its members and when they so act; but avoids to reckon with the heightening divergence among them.
The EU is a huge net demandeur of energy, and many times acts as if this were not the case; it continues to be unable to solve the conundrum of its military autonomy, even in relative, reasonable terms, while at the same time pretends to be a mighty international power, with perhaps too many endeavours, most of debatable success. It portrays an independent position towards China, without a common view on the superpower by its several members, to finish, most of the times, to follow the prescription of a United States that allows it, at most, to play second fiddle in its planetary orchestra. It tries not to see how crucial it is to streamline a consistent and, if not friendly, rid of oldfashioned suspicions -and of a rhetoric that may be in the interest of other powers but not its own- policy towards Russia.
Notwithstanding, the EU continues to be an attractive and, under many dimensions, pioneering project, involving perhaps the most modern -actually postmodern- experiment in social democracy in the Western Hemisphere. A multilateral endeavour with concrete achievements and, despite plenty of misdeeds and mistakes, able to not only give a positive contribution to the world order but also secure to the EU itself a relevant place in this very order.
This short note outlines, in a preliminary form, how this could be achieved. The process requires significant turns in its present projects and a strong re-focussing on assets that have been either disregarded or have not received due attention and support. Bolder attitudes are required in the geopolitical realm, be it in terms of assertiveness or of taking clear and reasonable decisions to quit fora, conflicts and spots that weaken its image and message, and to which its contribution is actually small. The next section addresses the broad idea and why it is worth considering. Sections 3 and 4 get into more detail, outlining changes either in the domestic or in the foreign affairs domains, respectively, while a last section concludes. The aim of the Note may seem preposterous but an undeniable excuse is that something must be done, to counter the Union’s slow decline and loss of relevance."