JOSÉ MANUEL DURÃO BARROSO, the President of the European Commission, believes that the current debt crises in Europe, is a wonderful opportunity to quicken the pace of reform toward full political and monetary union. He believes that the current fiasco of the single currency has only come about because the association between European states was too loose in the first place. Only by creating what he has described as a European “none imperial Empire” could we have avoided the impending chaos of the euro debt crises.
What he probably meant was that all the nations of the EU should have been made to limply forfeit their national sovereignty from the beginning of their membership; instead of pretending, as our politician’s did in the UK to pacify a sceptical people, that the sole European ambition was only to be one built upon cooperation between trading nation states. If this had happened then Barroso’s “Empire Napoleon” would have already been thriving and challenging the USA, Russia, China and India - however, the euro debacle still gives us a wonderful opportunity once and for all to seal the fate of European nationhood.
If I were a conspiracy nut, I would be wondering whether this whole European debt crises was not deliberately engineered by Barroso and his 27 commissioners. For I can imagine such ill-fitting logic as Barroso uses, appealing to his fellow Europhiles, and, by using their president’s logic, continuing to pursue political and monetary union as a panacea for such crises ever happening again.
Ever closer union and not a rethink of the whole adventure, will, I fear, be the terms of the debate following this crisis. Barroso will convince the Europhiles within the different nations that the experiment of subtly steering each of the nation’s people into the net of federalism; like children being teased into the dentist’s chair with the promise of a painless examination, will no longer suffice. Such a strategy has been undermined by the debt crisis, and has proven the federalist’s case.
Such topsy-turvy thinking by Barroso and his entourage of commissioners may indeed panic some national politicians into speeding up the process to a United States of Europe – the wet dream of Europhiles since the idea of continental sovereignty first made its claim after the Second World War.
JOSÉ BARROSO is now the rallying point for all the traumatized Europhiles that have suffered doubt about the great experiment since the euro was challenged by the markets. It is true that the single currency should have been less ambitious when it was brought in. As many commentators have already concluded; the different stages of evolution of the various European economies (including Barroso’s Portugal) should have led to a two- tier system for the single currency.
To put it crudely, it was like promoting a League Two side to the Premiership in football, without that side ever earning its promotion – it could never survive.
But this is exactly what happened when it was agreed that those economies that were below premiership standard were given automatic entrance.
Those nations that were given immediate acceptance to what should have been an exclusive club, are now paying the consequences; and those who earned their admittance are now forced to bear the cost of those that should never have been admitted in the first place.
Greece, Portugal, Spain, and Italy, all should have had to earn their promotion to Europe’s economic premiership. These economies were and still are, in some cases one or two decades behind their northern European partners in terms economic prosperity.
Greece, because she lacks much of an industrial sector to speak of, and because so many of her nation’s people work for the state…a factor which is causing Greece so much trouble today. Such a meagre contribution hardly entitles Greece to become part of any single currency that involves globally competitive nations such as France and Germany. But, it seems, the European ideal overrode commonsense and not only allowed Greece, but also Spain and Italy to join. As for Ireland; with a population of barely seven million; is it little wonder that today, she has registered the largest growth forecast of even the UK, France and Germany for this year.
JOSÉ MANUEL DURÃO BARROSO; to give him once more his full title, is a reconstructed Marxist; indeed, not only a Marxist, but one of the Maoist variety . Of course José has moved on since his student days supporting the Portuguese Carnation Revolution in the 1970’s, when our future EC Commissioner in Chief, (like his many student associates at the time) probably dropped a carnation down the barrel of a rifle of a Portuguese soldier.
A full European union requires much more than an idealistic imperative. It requires a grounding in its practicability; something which the architects, either barely considered, or did so and, with a puzzled shrug, still went ahead anyway, believing, like so many idealists have done in the past, that all will come right in the end.
Barroso is dangerous on two levels. First of all; I wonder how much of his Marxist past he still believes in. I can remember the Carnation Revolution of the 70s when the country’s dictator’s were sent packing. In Greece, during the same decade we also witnessed the dismissal of the Greek Junta. Indeed I would have supported Mr Barroso at the time: as a Marxist myself. Like him, joined the equivalent of the social democrats in this country – the Labour Party; and I joined for ideological reasons.
Mr Barroso was of course academically trained and pursued a career in politics. As with most ambitious politicians who seek power, I believe that, in Barroso’s case, he took his leave of Marxism for social democracy because it was the only Left of centre party that stood a chance to govern Portugal. He was duly elected as Portugal’s Prime Minister in April 2002 and remained so until July 2004; when, in November of that year, he became President of the European Commission.
What makes me question Barroso’s disinfection of Marxism, is that he has hung on to a somewhat Marxian concept of historical inevitability and Ideological expansionism. To him, with talk of a “none imperial Empire”, he shows a Marxist desire for expansionism, but of the European “Ideal”, instead of the communist one of world infection.
Empire building, imperial or not, shows to me that Barroso retains a collectivist outlook. All of Europe must act collectively, and the only means by which this can be done, is by political and monetary union. A vast European Empire governed centrally by…well… José Manuel Durão Barroso?
It remains to be seen whether Barroso’s arm can extend its reach . But, if it does, and he still young enough to see it happen; President Barroso, of a United States of Europe, could be the climax to his career.
I SAID BARROSO WAS DANGEROUS on two levels, the first regarding his innate inner collectivism and his once appreciated Marxist historical dialectic. I am not saying that Barroso is still a Marxist; merely that he has an outlook that accommodates itself with Marxist thinking. In the arena of Europe, the historical process that will ultimately lead to its Union, is seen as being inevitable. If not exactly in conformity to Marx’s dialectical process; Barros’s historical certainty certainly is.
The other ingredient of Barros’s personality that makes him a danger to Europe; is that he once governed one of the countries that should have been excluded from joining the euro.
Barroso is not an illiterate peasant but someone who has enjoyed a flourishing academic career. He should have known that Portugal should never have joined the euro in the first place. Yet we heard no opposition from him. He once governed a country that could never have hoped to succeed in the premier division, yet he kept quiet. Like Greece, Portugal is now one of Europe’s debtor nations, and as Portugal’s prime minister, Barroso should have know his country would sooner or later become one.
Nations like Portugal and Greece took full advantage of the cheap lending that being part of the euro zone would unleash. It was, at the very least, irresponsible of Barroso not to advise his people against joining the euro, when Portugal’s economy was never strong enough to become a member. If the Portuguese people never understood…Barroso certainly did.
Today Barroso is President of the European commissioners and advising, not repentance, but a one more push solution to the euro crises.
This man should not be listened to when it comes to what will hopefully become a euro post-mortem. But I think it unlikely because Barroso still champions the European Ideal; and their are many more of our continents political elites who still subscribe to such an ambition; and will herald Barroso’s championing of a “none imperial Empire” within Europe.
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