Perspectives on Argument, Essay Example

The European Union (EU) has undergone severe debate regarding its future after the Euro Crisis destabilised the European project. Since 2012, it has become evident that a ‘euro-implosion’ will not occur, yet the situation is complex and volatile, rendering many citizens of the Member States facing difficult conditions in everyday life. Since 2010, various measures have been enacted to strengthen Europe, but the reality remains that Europeans must resign to considerable internal and external reforms and implement a strategy for the EU’s future in the long term. Perhaps most useful in this situation is a discussion between the EU countries regarding possible responses to economic, political, financial and social factors challenging the Member States. By engaging actively with policymakers and the community, the EU can return to strength at a global scale. This possibility led to a consortium of the Member States, driven by the King Baudouin Foundation and the Bertelsmann Stiftung, in seeking to engage in a cross-European public debate regarding the future of the EU and generate possible responses to the primary challenges it faces. This aim involved analysing the ‘state of the Union’, covering strategic options and various national debates with local and international players. This ‘new pact for Europe’ categorised the connected challenges facing the EU into four sections: socio-economic, political-institutional, societal and external-global. The first involved threats to social peace, high unemployment levels and pressure on the welfare state, and an increasing economic gap between countries, and structural deficits of the euro without financial and economic integration. The second covered the lack of public support for the EU, crises of leadership, and traditional theories of political governance being challenged. The societal area including a lack of knowledge regarding European integration, division between States, and misperceptions of national sovereignty. The final category mentioned the risk of marginalisation, loss of credibility at an international level, and pressure to adapt the multilateral system to the state of current international relations.

This issue is interesting as it encompasses the future of Europe as a whole. The contrasting opinions of George Soros and Kathleen McNamara demonstrate how complex and volatile the current state of the EU crisis is. While Soros is advocating away from union, singling out a specific Member State, McNamara is focused on complete integration. Due to globalisation, and the need for the EU to present a united front to gain international credibility, it would seem the more logical option is to consider economic and monetary union, with strengthened political support. Domestically, the debtor countries will benefit from a well-functioning union in a growth-friendly environment, allowing employment growth and public support.

The first angle of interest is by In Kathleen McNamara, who considered the Eurocrisis; she analyses the need to integrate the EU and queries whether European leadership could in fact implement the required reforms. Secondly, other scholars have focused on particular Member States of the EU and individual contributions to preserve the euro. George Soros discusses a resolution involving Germany committing to stabilise the euro as a currency, and the similar decision required by other Member States. It is worth addressing either of these angles, as they present quite different suggestion for the future of Europe itself.

Works Cited

McNamara, Kathleen. ‘The Eurocrisis and the Uncertain Future of European Integration’, Council on Foreign Relations, September 2010, accessed 2 November 2015: http://www.cfr.org/world/eurocrisis-uncertain-future-european-integration/p22933

Soros, George. ‘The Tragedy of the European Union and How to Resolve It’, The New York Review of Books, 27 September 2012, accessed 2 November 2015: http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2012/sep/27/tragedy-european-union-and-how-resolve-it/