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European values or values of Europe?
„I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”. Evelyn Beatrice Hall in the spirit of Voltaire
Take some young journalists from all over Europe, put them together with EU officers and add some additional flavor by mixing in experts and experienced journalists and the result will make you satisfied if you are hungry for a fresh debate. When the topic of EU enlargement is raised, the future of one of the power centers in the globalized world – were you actually thinking of Europe? – brings up many questions about common identity, diversity and shared values. After the recent Slovenian presidency, the Irish NO-vote and yet another “historical” milestone in EU-history, the debate sounds strangely familiar. Ljubljana became the last the station where the train of brotherhood stopped after a trip through the Balkans. Over coffee and tea European values where defined. Or wait, can they actually be defined?
“Basically, we all know that European integration is based upon a set of values which are often considered as universal values, but were born and created in Europe. Democracy, rule of law, respect for human rights and other values which go beyond that - equity, social equality, basic rules concerning non-discrimination, racism, abolition of death penalty and the social model which are also part of the European heritage. These values cannot be questioned and cannot be discussed.
Some old member states take these values for granted - they think they have always been there and they do not give them a lot of thought. The new member states that have recent totalitarian experiences pay much more attention to the defense of these values. That is why it is still important, even today, to talk about democracy, rule of law and human rights. People have to live for some time with these values, they must become part of their life, just like the air that we breathe, it is not possible to live without them.
History proved that a democracy could easily turn into a dictatorship if it lost its values, so these values must be repeatedly underlined and people must feel they are a part of the democratic process. This is the biggest challenge. People are less and less interested in participative democracy, because they feel their voice is not being heard. Democracy has its limits, it is not a perfect system but nobody has invented anything better yet.”
“If we look for unity in diversity, we find elements that make European democratic societies different from those cultures which have developed outside the continent. Europe is based on three main pillars - the Greek tradition of democracy, the Roman tradition of justice and rule of law and a humanistic view from the Judeo-Christian tradition. They are not universal values, but European values and they are coming from these three pillars. Freedom for me is the basic value of Europe: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of movement, freedom of individuals.
The so called “golden rule” limited this in the sense that you shouldn’t do to others what you don't want others to do to you - and this is the only limit of freedom which is acceptable for me in the EU. There is another basic European value which is not as common around the world as it is in Europe: gender equality. I know that there are no exact equal positions, but at least there is an effort and agreement how it should be and people are trying to behave on the basis of this agreement. Freedom and gender equality, to me these two basic values of Europe are the most important.”
European values for me can mean nothing and everything, because there are no European values, There is only the aim of Europeans to respect some universal values. So nobody can tell to take democracy as a value, nobody can say that democracy is a European value, but what we see in Europe that democracy is really respected. We have to say that the most important thing is the will to respect democracy, not democracy itself as a value. Concerning human rights and gender equality: that's a law, you can not evaluate it, because it's the law, it is part of the constitution. So it is up to the politicians and the state to make sure it is respected.
Britain is my adopted country and there is a saying there, which for me captures the essence of civilised thinking: we should agree to differ. It is a human right to think differently, to be out of the mainstream, to express a different opinion. To me that is the essential European value, that needs to be carefully ensured, because this is the battle that starts again every single day.
Democracy is a state of mind. Democracy is a way of breathing that you live on a daily basis. Democracy is not something you can inherit, get on a silver platter or buy in a shop. It is something you have to live by and prove every single day, year after year.
Liberty and democracy is a way of thinking and that takes time to develop. From my point of view you can judge democracy by these benchmarks: do the people ask questions, do the authorities get questions? If you go around in the new member countries, even in the old ones you will notice that the voice of authority basically carries an extra special weight. Like: he is the prime minister, so he must know everything. No he doesn't! And people are afraid to question authority, even the EU's authority. If an official comes to a press congress and says this, this and that, nobody dares to questions what he says.
There are different opinions on how to define European values. For me it is basically learning, it is teaching people to use their brains for thinking. It is using your common sense. There is not a perfect recipe. This is not the greatest secret in the world, there is nothing bigger than simply getting people to use their common sense, to ask questions and giving them an atmosphere where there is no fear and where there are no consequences if you ask unpleasant questions. We have the merger of free way of thinking, every single person has the right to disagree.
Posted in 2008 European Young Journalists Award, Ljubljana| 31.07.08
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