Never waste a crisis - Kevin Hannon

Never Waste a Crisis – the EU Epic Way

After Lisbon and Copenhagen comes Greece - two crises over and another begins. It’s the EU way.

The EU is in a crisis about Greek debt and the future economic governance of the Eurozone. Good. That is how Europe learns and

develops. The talk as a result of this crisis is of improved economic co-ordination between Eurozone governments to improve their

ability to cope with international financial crises. Such a result is a perfect illustration of the latin expression aurum e stercore (gold

from dung).

The EU is always a work in progress. It was built upon the experience of the EEC which in turn was built upon the experience of the

ECSC (European Coal and Steel Community). And the ECSC was built to escape from the biggest crises of 20th century Europe,

namely two world wars. The very idea that has developed into the EU was born in crisis. Like a pearl growing inside an oyster an

irritant is at its origin.

The EU is envisaging new forms of economic and fiscal co-operation in response to the present crisis. And in years to come there will

be other crises and more new responses will be invented to deal with those. To use a literary comparision ; the EU is not a neat short

story it is a wandering political epic. After the Iliad of two world wars there is this political Odyssey of the new and renewed constructivity

of European civilisation.

The EU, as in an epic of literature, contains many adventures, many crises, many dangers, many episodes ; it regains lost beauties

and takes a long time to unfold. How long will be the journey of this political epic ? We don’t know. As long as we can make it would

be best. The alternative is chaos.

The essence of the present European political epic was well understood at its start by one of its inventors, Monsieur Jean Monnet. That

essence in natura naturans is well worth remembering now and in future EU crises. The following quotation is from his memoires,

here reporting a conversation in 1952 after some very hard negotiations about setting up the European Coal and Steel Community.
 
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"As we left the French Foreign Office on the Quai d’Orsay, the sun was coming up. I said to François Fontaine:

"Now we have a few hours to rest and a few months to succeed. After that –‘‘After that’, said Fontaine, smiling, ‘we shall face great

difficulties, and we shall use them to make further progress. That’s it isn’t it?’‘It is indeed,’ I said, ‘You’ve understood what Europe’s all

about.” Kevin Hannon of West Midlands European Movement. 29.3.2010.

Kevin Hannon of West Midlands European Movement.
29.3.2010.