European wishes beyond plastic-lids

Blog, 09/01/2025, by Sven Franck (french version here, german version there)

Another year bit the dust. 2024 has left the building and our eyes are anxiously gazing at the outlines of 2025 creeping out of the winter fog. Mine are staring at the EU's self-congratulatory post of gifting us the USB-C plug and while pulling on the plastic-lid clumsily attached to my water bottle, I cannot help but wonder: are these all of your latest achievements, Europe?

Europe today feels a lot like our car industry innovating around headlights while others are busy reinventing mobility. The US, China and Russia are those "innovators", out to take democracy and the European Union apart. Why are we only watching? Even Angela Merkel, not going down in history as a stalwart of change, reminded us that "we must constantly renew the political shape of Europe in keeping with the times." These "times" are a knockin' for a while now but unfortunately none of our political leaders gets the message. They only pretend: as we remember the late Jacques Delors, one of the Commission presidents who drove the European project forward, his self-proclaimed spiritual heirs are lining up: Olaf Scholz, who couldn't care less about Europe, Emmanuel Macron, who failed to transform Europe into a bigger version of France and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who dodges her role to turn Europe into a bureaucratic Bauhaus held together by strings that are pulled by member states behind closed doors.

Europe desperately needs to advance. But instead we sit idle in the equivalent of bumper cars, with 27 drivers considering at any moment to switch into reverse. Europe's body has been bumped up - by reckless adversaries and our feckless leaders. And as we all probably tear off the plastic lid from our bottles to wash away the past year, I'm asking myself, shouldn't we be taking the logical next step for Europe?

Can the real Europeans please stand up?

Another of Europe's founding fathers shows the direction: Jean Monnet is on record for "not being optimistic, but determined". We better be. We're playing against a stacked deck and have Scholz, Macron, von der Leyen as our best cards, plus some Orbans, Ficos and now Kickls. We can discard, but no matter which color, if we draw from the existing deck, we may end up with Merzes and Lindners, Melenchons and LePens and we don't need to be a prophet to know we’re not that good in bluffing to pull off anything faintly European.

If Europe wants to "innovate", we need to mix it up: New decks. New cards. Different game. Who is playing? Take a guess... and I'll be the prophet here: if we continue to munch popcorn from the sidelines on the upper deck as the European ship is sinking we should not complain when our feet and our popcorn get wet. Staying dry means standing up and voting for alternatives that push a European agenda. And we need to step up and take responsibility ourselves - a new year is also a moment for bold resolutions, like quitting to only talk smack about politics and getting involved ourselves - contributing to making politics the quality affair that we so direly need it to be today. Europe needs you.

It’s time for a new European ambition

And while you probably won't directly be challenging Ursula von der Leyen for the Commission Presidency (actually, why not...), we must be bold. Extremists across Europe aren't shy about their ambitions of sowing division and taking our Union apart. Divided we will fall, so neither should those be shy, who believe we must be united to address our common challenges. The European Union has to evolve. Not the perpetually preached "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger", but a real level-up. This upgrade won't come from national political parties that are pulling strings and act like our car industry. If we want to unlock new European abilities, such as the EU becoming a political voice for its citizens, one that defines what we as Europeans hold dear - from democracy to human rights - and that stands up for these ideas in Europe and beyond, we need to innovate.

Innovation doesn't mean lipservicing treaty change. On the contrary: if incumbent US president Trump calls out Denmark for not defending Greenland, I'd wager the 27 national governments might even agree to deploy an EU battlegroup to Greenland. These have been in stand-by since their creation and this way, they'd at least sit idle in a location sporting a big "not for sale flag". If the idea stumbles over a Slovakian veto, I'd gently nudge some member states constantly advocating for European Defense whether they'd be willing to make a first contribution and support Denmark to protect our European external borders (think about the concept) with a spare frigate and drones - perhaps even sailing under the European flag.

Or the United Nations Security Council, where Europe is not allowed to participate. It will probably not be France who cedes their permanent seat to Kaja Kallas (again, why not...) to prove Yanis Varoufakis wrong, but there may be smaller EU member states willing to do the unheard - defining their principal foreign policy expectations and letting the EU represent them in the Security Council. What a game changer it would be - also putting other leaders in a bit of an awkward position of backing up their perpetual “stronger Europe” sweet talk.

The blue star-spangled banner shall wave

The beginning of the year in France is the time of “voeux” - wishes to the population for the coming year. It is a practice to give a positive outlook and to bring everyone together. Here are my wishes: Let 2025 be the year we realize that we can contribute to a stronger Europe outside of changing treaties. Europe is not at a dead end. National politics treating Europe like it needs new headlights is. Just like reinventing mobility, let 2025 be the year we reinvent European politics. We can do this ourselves. Determined. And seeking the game changing angles in upcoming elections. A first chance to mix up the cards will be the February 23rd snap elections in Germany, followed by the likely snap elections in France in September and the Czech parliament elections in October.

Let’s be clear: Europe isn’t about plastic-lids. It’s about an idea of society, about safety and the principles of democracy. Let 2025 be the year we actively begin defending these ideas. By not letting us be scared or deterred and voting for a positive future and pro-european politics. Join me in doing so.