Für ein Europa der Bürger!

The greatest political achievement since World War II, the European Union, is facing enormous challenges (pandemic, Ukraine war, energy crisis, climate change, etc.) that require a renewed discourse on Europe. On the one hand, more and more countries want to join the Union, recently Ukraine and Moldova. Other countries, such as Serbia and Montenegro, have been holding accession talks for almost ten years without any conclusion in sight. On the other hand, the existing Union is not only threatened by anti-European movements, but some countries are also violating the fundamental European values to which they committed themselves by joining the Union. Last but not least, such an important European country as the United Kingdom has left the Union and such important countries as Iceland, Norway and Switzerland have not joined the Union at all. These phenomena call for humility. The Union must realise that, politically as well as scientifically and culturally, Europe consists of much more than just the Union. The sometimes thoughtless, sometimes thoroughly imperialist equation of our continent with the Union must be abandoned. In any case, it is time to renew the discourse on Europe not only in its economic, but also in its social, political, and especially in its cultural diversity and with the thoroughness that Europe, the most important thing for us, deserves.