The Comeback of Europe

November 20, 2008

With half a billion people and 27 member states, the European Union is increasingly playing an integral role in the management of challenging world issues. On Tuesday, four Consuls General from the EU spoke at the Martin Institute, covering a number of topics from the world financial crisis to the Lisbon Treaty.

On hand were François Gauthier of France, Friedrich Löhr of Germany, Deirdre Ni Fhallúin of Ireland, and Manuela Bairos of Portugal.

Gautheir began by discussing the structure and role of the EU as a recent poll by USA Today showed that 55 percent of the U.S. population was not at all familiar with the Union.

Admitting the Union has been very inward looking over the last 50 years, he said the EU is looking to change that with the Lisbon Treaty. "Europe is back," declared Gautheir. "Europe is now planning a new role on the world stage."

He went on to say Europe is already making progress after taking the lead in recent issues, including the Russian invasion of Georgia.

"Immediately Europe took leadership," said Gautheir, speaking on EU President Nicolas Sarkozy's role in the ceasefire agreement reached between Russia and Georgia. "It was a big achievement for the EU."

Gautheir also cited the EU's role in the world financial crisis. "We decided to first protect the banks and then to provide liquidities to the economy and our approach was adopted by the rest of the world, mainly by the United States one week after its initial bail-out plan was rejected."

He also noted the recent G20 Summit was first proposed by the EU to try to manage the world financial crisis.

These initiatives have proved, said Gautheir, that when the EU "acts as a united front, it can play a positive role on the world stage."

Löhr, the newly appointed Consul General of Germany in Boston, focused on transatlantic relations, beginning with the financial crisis.

"The world financial crisis has shown that there is complete interdependency between the U.S. and Europe," said Löhr. "The U.S. and Europe have the power to give the right impulses in order to overcome this crisis."

Global warming is a second issue Löhr feels needs to be at the forefront of discussion between the U.S. and Europe, citing the investment in alternative and renewable energies has created 235,000 jobs in Germany alone.

The debate over nuclear disarmament vs. nuclear proliferation was another important issue in transatlantic relations Löhr pointed out.

more