Alphen, the Netherlands. 16
July. In 1651 English political
philosopher Thomas Hobbes wrote “Leviathan” in which he said prophetically, “The only way to erect…a common power, as may be able to
defend [men] from the invasion of foreigners, and the inquiries of one
another... is to confer all their power and strength upon one man, or upon one
assembly of men...Leviathan”.
Hunkered down behind the Eurozone crisis is Europe’s key existential
question; can the future prosperity, stability and, indeed, democracy of
Europeans be afforded by one single super-Leviathan?
The current crisis has painfully
exposed what is the great European divide; those who believe in a greater
‘Europe’ and those suspicious of grand constructs that not only threaten hard
won freedoms but also seek to replace the nation-state. Sadly, friendships have been torn asunder
over this issue; I too have lost a couple.
Many continental Europeans are
used to so-called ‘dirigisme’, diktat
by fiat from above. As an Englishman
grounded in a political culture in which fundamental individual freedoms are
sacrosanct the very idea of a European Leviathan is dangerous political
folly. It would require trust in a European
political caste over which I have no writ.
Later this year I will have the
honour of addressing a meeting of senior French politicians and officials. ‘L’Europe’ is very much a concept that France
has championed. Whilst it is a perfectly
honourable creed it, ‘Europe’, begs the ultimate political and economic question;
what is the ‘finalité’?
First, there would need to be a European
head of state, a real European president supported by a real European
government led by a cabinet replete with European ministers, covering all the
many competences of a modern state; a single system of justice and policing, sound
economic governance and all aspects of ‘Home’ Affairs. Second, Europe’s five
hundred million or so very disparate peoples with their myriad of cultures,
traditions, beliefs and languages would need representation via a single
European parliament credibly charged with powers of political oversight and
made up of Europe-wide political parties. Third, there would need to be a real executive
supported by a European ‘civil service’ charged with implementing European
policy and held to account by a functioning parliament. Fourth, there would need to be a European
Finance Ministry supported by a real European Central Bank that would act as a
bank of last resort, much like the US Federal Reserve. Finally, and critically, any such ‘state’
would send European citizens to their deaths in war in the service of a real
European Army, Navy and Air Force.
To make that work France would
need to be scrapped, the French Government in Paris reduced to being little
more than an English county council or more aptly a French departement. Parliamentary
democracy in France would be diluted some tenfold as by ratio of population to
representation the size of European parliamentary constituencies increased in
size some tenfold. French national control over
all main tax-raising powers and indeed all other aspects of sound money would
be handed over to the European finance ministry. The French would also need to abandon their armed
forces, its military traditions, history and glory and subordinate it to a
European Army.
Of course, money is the root of all evil. The Europe on offer today is one of mutual impoverishment, which makes it different to the 'Europe' of yore. For the first
time European integration pre-supposes little or no economic growth. In the past ‘Europe’ has been built on the
transfer of surpluses from the taxpayers of the formerly rich north and west
Europe to those of the poor south and east Europe. How long
can Western European politicians impose such transfers on their newly
impoverished taxpayers in the name of Europe before they revolt?
For me ‘Europe’ can only ever
work as a tight alliance of nation-states in which the political centre of
gravity remains national sovereignty under national parliamentary control ‘harmonised’
into a tool for strategic influence, both within Europe and beyond. To that end the place of Brussels is to serve
the European state, not replace it. I
will never compromise on this point.
Shortly before his death Hobbes said,
“I am about to take my last voyage. A great leap in the dark.” He could well have been speaking of the giant
leap into the political dark that is now taking place in Europe. Ultimately, a European Leviathan would be an
insult to the tradition of English and Scottish political thought that made parliamentary
democracy possible – Hume, Locke, Mill, Smith et al. And, if friendships are lost because I will
not compromise on this fundamental political principle, then so be it.
A European Leviathan; be careful
what you wish for.
Julian Lindley-French
