Europa

Hace ya más de un año realicé con el instituto un viaje al parlamente europeo en Estrasburgo. Para ir me preparé un pequeño trabajo sobre la importancia de los valores europeos compartidos, la cual ahora he encontrado por casualidad limpiando mi ordenador. Por supuesto, leída ahora, con el tiempo a mis espaldas hay muchas cosas que habría cambiado de aquella hoja de papel que me sirvió para reflexionar acerca del mundo en que vivimos. La dejo aquí integra y sin cambiar nada, con errores y todo, para que conserve la esencia de aquel momento. Espero que os guste.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SHARED EUROPEAN VALUES 

 It is a fact that in the last century Europe has lost its role as a superpower able to lead and influence the world. Now, with the current crisis we live, we have given more importance to economic troubles than political ones. We have placed on the hands of technocrats who distribute our resources towards the economy and undermine the values that have cost us so much time to force. This is the dangerous limit that separates understanding the welfare state as a social right of the understanding it as a privilege.

These changes affect us, young Europeans, with more intensity because they will determinate our future. But it is unfair. Our lives cannot depend on economic stability. And now it is time to stop looking to Europe as a market and Europeans as consumers. Conceptualizing Europe as a market belittles us as citizens.

To advance in this ideal of union we must rid ourselves at looking only what divides us and focus on what unites us. Maybe our past is different but we share future. Language is one of the main obstacles. We will not be able to see each other as siblings until we were able to understand us when we talk. No language is better than another but we must not fall into the hypocrisy of saying that they are all equally important. We must be practical and use the language as a tool to communicate not as a weapon to defend our nationalism. Because that is not the way to move forward. We must also try to make the European Union more participative with its citizens.  Create large European political parties and that they compete with each other for the presidency of the parliament. It does not care if the chief candidate is northern or southern, eastern or western.

But these changes will not be proposed by national politicians because they will be the biggest losers if we cede sovereignty in favour of the union. They have to be the people themselves who built this multicultural space and the feeling like they were at home beyond the frontiers of our countries. Then, maybe, politicians will work seriously for the union beyond the economic one.