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A Europe you want

If you live in Europe, or intend to, this text is for you.

The European integration project (also know as ‘building the EU’) is a peace success story. You might just not think it is yours. I want this to change. Here’s how.

We all wish for happy and fulfilling lives for us and our loved ones. Sometimes we argue with each other over what actually is a happy and fulfilling life, or how to get there, but the goal remains the same. And while the building blocks of your own personal happiness will depend on whether you prioritise family, material wealth or enriching experiences, just to name a few, there is one prerequisite that they all share: long-lasting, far-reaching peace.

All the things we usually associate with happiness, like the freedom to travel, to sample fine foods, to see our children grow into surpassing us in every way, to express ourselves and broaden our horizons through the arts, to call someplace “home”, all depend on this one factor we have grown so accustomed to we have forgotten how precious it is: the absence of conflict on our soil.

Major conflicts of EU founding members

In this respect, the EU construction has achieved something truly unique in this world’s history: no country ever joining the EU has since been swallowed whole in a conflict with its neighbours, as used to be the case at least once in a generation. In fact, we have gotten so used to this we’ve grown complacent. Peace is no longer striven for, but assumed to be a constant. Most of us don’t even remark its existence. The horrors of conflict forgotten, we start looking inwards again and jeopardise the common house. I know our history. I refuse to participate in tearing down our home. I will always be a part of the effort to build it.

I believe what the EU need is for everyone on its territory to feel:

“This is my home. Here, I am free to shape my life after my own design. My voice matters. If I choose to use it directly, it counts. If I choose to delegate my voice, I know how it is used, and why, and I can intervene if I don’t agree. I share this house with all around me, and it is our common charge to take good care of it”

I believe since the only way for us to live our lives as we want to is for our nations to be at peace with each other, and since the original plan of integrating the European nations to a point where they couldn’t possibly wage war on each other has worked so well, we must keep at it. I believe we must strive for a European Union that works, and visibly so, for all of us.

I also believe you can help build it.  You will find more information about how to do this on this page in the coming months.