The last time I checked my European Law this federation wasn’t what I thought would eventuate at all.
In 2000 (when I was wrapping up a law degree) we were just looking at South Eastern Europe, Spain, Greece and Portugal to catch up let alone handing out visas to the Balkans and signing cooperation agreements with Iraq (on its way back after annihilation) which happened this past week in shifts that bring us to a new era.
Following the Lisbon Treaty ratification two treaties will be the main players in the Union, The Treaty on European Union – that is the Maastricht Treaty as amended by the Amsterdam, Nice and Lisbon treaties, and The Treaty on the Functioning of the EU – that is the Treaty of Rome as amended by all the subsequent treaties including the Lisbon treaty.
When I’ll be writing Eurocentrique one week from now I will have, as a European Citizen, a new President. The First European President.
In my world of dual nationalities I already have one President, that of Greece in Mr Carolos Papoulias, 2 Prime Ministers, Mr George Papandreou and Mr Kevin Rudd, a Queen (of England) and a Governor General (that represents the Queen in the Australian Parliament). I have mentioned I’m Greek/Australian right?
So what does this mean for me? Can I now claim to have three nationalities? How do I see this as an evolution in citizenship? Extraordinary.
I like to call it our walk along the path of globalization. I know that term has completely gone out of fashion but I still think it’s relevant.
Martin Luther King Jr once said
that in order to advance, “Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class and our nation; we must develop a world perspective.”
Work at the G20, the United Nations and many other institutions have been aiming for this, but the road is long, and the differences beyond Mr Luther King’s optimism still remain many.
Religion still divides, poverty divides, and education is crucial even to conquer the basics of communication.
However, opportunities to speak globally can be created, the internet is a stepping stone, sometimes events become that as well.
Examples have been said to be conferences like the COP15, the UN’s Climate Change Conference to be held in Copenhagen 7-18 December. The world will have a chance to stop and go forward.  Europe with its reformed unity, but even before this, through European Commissioner for the Environment Stavros Dimas has been pulling everyone’s hands along on the issue. They’ve set out a plan reaching back as far as early this year saying, this is what we need to do, this is how much it will cost, and we all have to agree (global partners) to make it happen.
Angela Merkel at the last European Council summit was reportedly more than miffed at the notion that what sustainability came down to was a bunch of Finance Ministers but in reality the money to drive this is what will make it happen, it’s too late to wait for generations to be educated on sustainability.
But green jobs for a green growth have been the mainstay of the Party of the European Socialists for the second half of this year and PES President Poul Nyrup Rasmussen along with George Papandreou President of the International Socialist (and one of my prime ministers) are betting on this. “Europe now needs to focus on fighting the financial and economic crisis and stopping mass unemployment," Rasmussen said last week, and green jobs are the key.
Let’s see what our new President will think of this! Welcome to the European World Madame (fingers crossed!!).
Follow Alia Papageorgiou on twitter @eurocentrique or send her an email alia@neurope.eu