The Tribune

IN THESE columns last week we commented on the current uncertainty in the European Union (EU) and in Britain engendered by the start of the Brexit negotiations to determine the conditions of the latter’s departure from the bloc.

This week, we reflect on the legacy in relation to European unity of Helmut Kohl, Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and considered by some to have been the most important European statesman since the end of the Second World War, who died last month.

Described as a political titan and architect of modern Europe, Kohl was the driving force behind German reunification, following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and the Maastricht Treaty of 1992 which created the EU. He was regarded as the consummate political operator who, having delivered reunification, went on to provide the impetus for European integration.

As the EU currently now seems to be lurching from one crisis to another, it is interesting to consider the significantly different state of the continent more than thirty years ago.

The politicians of the time had been affected, personally or indirectly, by the horrors and ravages of war in Europe and its aftermath which had produced a divided continent including Germany itself being split into two parts. Their views were shaped by this and led to an unshakeable commitment to the dream of the founding fathers of a new united Europe.

With President Reagan and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Helmut Kohl had pursued ideological and practical opposition to the Soviet Union, and this was instrumental in achieving its collapse together with the end of the Cold War which had gripped Europe since 1945. In pressing for German reunification, he was able to convince the four victorious nations of the Second World War – in the face of doubts expressed in particular by Britain about a revived Germany dominating Europe again – that this would not translate into a resurgence of German nationalism; and, as well as reunification, he succeeded later in bringing the former USSR satellite countries into a newly-developed EU.

In securing a reunified Germany, Kohl claimed that his motive was to establish harmony and close ties with its neighbours so that conflict between them would be unthinkable ever again. By bringing the EU into existence and paving the way for integration, including a joint euro currency and, later, the removal of internal borders through the Schengen agreement, he believed that fear of an overly strong Germany would be reduced if not eliminated.

He also persuaded the then French president to cooperate on the grounds that Europe would only be safe if its most frequent antagonists, France and Germany, could work in tandem and that the curtain on two world wars could finally be brought down.

More recently, critics have seen creation of the EU as a way of giving Germany the markets and means to produce a new domestic industrial and manufacturing miracle and that the Eurozone has developed into a two-tier north/south divide which favours France and Germany.

Today’s EU, against a background of increasing globalisation, looks significantly different from its original creation and euro scepticism among its member states is on the rise. Apart from debt issues within the Eurozone, particularly affecting Greece, Britain’s withdrawal is inevitably seen as a repudiation of the greater integration championed by Kohl and there is a fear that others may follow suit.

The most serious issue, however, is the worsening refugee crisis. According to the United Nations, migrant flows to Europe from North Africa and the Middle East are increasing again with an estimated 230,000 people expected to arrive in Italy this year. Such levels appear to be unsustainable and EU states disagree about sharing out the settlement of refugees amongst them, with Poland and Hungary rejecting a quota scheme and Austria threatening to close its borders. Short of dealing with the root causes of migration and making it more difficult for people to reach Europe, the problem may be insoluble and serious tensions within the bloc are likely to rise.

Overall, commentators on Europe are beginning to cast doubt on the EU’s goal of ever-closer union. Resistance to political integration leading to a federal superstate seems to be growing. In any tribute to Helmut Kohl as a European visionary, his original aim of economic integration, together with cooperation in all other spheres for the mutual benefit of EU member states, must surely be applauded. Such integration has contributed to increased prosperity and helped to keep the peace, but a full-blown federal Europe may turn out to be a step too far.

In observing developments in the EU from the perspective of a small country like ours, we need perhaps to remind ourselves of the importance of the sovereignty of nation states. We believe in international co-operation for mutual benefit and in the interests of world security. But we should be mindful of the West Indies Federation as a short-lived and failed political union as well as our country’s decision not to participate in the Caribbean Single Market and Economy.

In common with other small states around the world, we value our sovereignty and independence. In order to survive and prosper as a people, we should ensure that we always act, both at home and on the international stage, in accordance with a hard-headed assessment of our own national interest.