February 1, 2007
Raising awareness, inviting ridicule
You might not have noticed, but 2007 is the European Year of Equal Opportunities for All. For the launch, there was a big equality bash in Berlin on Tuesday and Wednesday that brought together an exciting line-up of EU ministers, equality bodies, trade unions, employers and non-governmental organisations. "Participation," the Commission revealed snootily on its website, "is by invitation only."
Don’t get me wrong. I am a big fan of equal opportunities myself, especially when they are intended to apply "for all". But as I scrolled through the Commission’s fantastically elaborate website, I must confess that my heart sank. What, I wondered, was the point?
You see, the main goal of the 2007 European Year of Equal Opportunities for All is to "raise awareness". That is very convenient from the Commission’s point of view, since measuring the success of such awareness-raising campaigns is notoriously tricky. Which in turn means that a certain measure of success can simply be derived from the profusion of events and PR stunts that take place over the course of the year.
On that count, the 2007 European Year of Equal Opportunities for All should be a winner. There will be a plethora of conferences, surveys, unspecified "events" and not one but two "equality summits". Brussels is also promising a "wide information and promotional campaign", and already the Commission’s Berlaymont headquarter has been plastered all over with posters advertising the 2007 equality extravaganza.
I find the posters just a trifle dull, however. If my memory serves me right, there’s a lot of white space, a few multi-coloured shapes, and a big logo saying that 2007 is (you’ve guessed it) the European Year of Equal Opportunities for All. In other words, the posters are intended to raise awareness for an awareness-raising campaign.
The human factor enters the campaign in the form of special equality ambassadors, who are defined as "high-profile figures in their countries who are committed to, and share, the aims of the 2007 European Year of Equal Opportunities for All". Sadly, the Commission website does not identify who these people are, but their mission is clear: they’ll be, of course, "helping to raise awareness".
The whole thing is uncontroversial, not particularly costly (at least I hope so) and, compared with much else that goes on in the world, perfectly harmless. But does anyone involved in this campaign truly believe that this exercise will create equal opportunities for a single European, let alone "for all"?
The annoying thing is that it strikes me as part of a wider trend. With enthusiasm for landmark European projects waning - and the Barroso Commission committed to a philosophy of less-is-more - the mighty Brussels machine appears to have lost something of its sense of purpose.
You’re right about the EU losing its sense of purpose.
Maybe this is a natural effect of many Europeans finally realising what the EU is becoming, due to the overtly statist EU Constitution, and wondering whether that’s what they really want - wondering whether they’d rather have far more decentralised and flexible structures for essential European co-operation instead.
Of course, such an appealing alternative arrangement contrasts starkly with the EU’s 1950s-defined purpose of integration and ‘ever closer union’. Hence that purpose is coming into doubt. And not before time.
It’s certainly strange that while integration is perfectly able to continue regardless under the current treaty - even to the extent of implementing some aspects of the Constitution by using the treaty’s ‘passerelle’ clause - the EU also seems to need its ‘big projects’ to provide a tangible sense of direction.
This seems to be the main reason why they are so desperately trying to revive the Constitution as intact as possible, despite the endless headaches of further referenda this is likely to lead to. Even if they finally get it past the French and Dutch people, even more risky referenda in Britain, Denmark, the Czech Republic and Poland - possibly even Ireland - loom into view. One or two futher rejections will provoke problems all over again.
So why are the politicians so determined to bang their heads against this particular brick wall? Is it simply because it’s just the only ‘big project’ around capable of breathing ‘direction’ and therefore, they feel, life into their waning project.
Posted by: Stuart Coster | February 2nd, 2007 at 12:43 pm | Report this comment