March 16, 2007
A new motto for the EU?
Eminent Europeans like nothing better than the chance to hold earnest debates about the future of Europe. So the celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome in Berlin on March 25th are being eagerly anticipated. I can see it now – the Brandenburg Gate; the Ode to Joy; the politicians linking hands; the fireworks. And – of course – there will be a wonderful “Berlin declaration” celebrating the past and future of the European Union.
The declaration’s drafters seem to be behaving a bit like a student with an essay crisis. They have still to produce a draft. But they are promising something that will be short – two to three pages – and memorable. They realise that the chances of anything memorable being produced by a committee are close to zero. So one idea is that the whole thing should be delegated to one very clever person, with a bit of a literary flair. The said person will be locked into a room overnight, with a flask of coffee and a bottle of whisky and will be expected to emerge with something at least as good as Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence.
But who this person is – and how they are doing – remains a closely guarded secret. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking. The only word out of the German government so far is that the Berlin Declaration will contain a lot about Europe’s social mission – which sounds deeply unpromising.
Meanwhile, this week I met a truly great European – Michel Platini. Platini was the captain and playmaker for the French football team of the 1980s – which, in my opinion, was far better than the team that actually went on to win the World Cup in 1998.
He was in London because he has recently been elected as the head of Uefa, the body that runs European football. There is – in fact – a link to the EU’s fiftieth birthday celebrations, because Uefa has just staged a game to celebrate the anniversary between Manchester United and Europe United. (Manchester won).
I am no longer over-awed when I meet important politicians. But I did feel a little shy in Platini’s company. This, after all, is a man who featured in two of the greatest World Cup games I have ever seen – the epic Brazil-France quarter final of 1986 and the West Germany-France semi final of 1982.
In that game, France were leading 3-1 with a just few minutes to go – when the Germans clawed them back to 3-3 and then beat them on penalties. It must have been an extremely bitter pill. The French were clearly the better team; one of their players had been subject to a brutal and unpunished foul by the German goalie. And they were just minutes away from a victory which would have been incredibly sweet - for historical reasons that there is no reason to dwell on.
A French diplomat once told me that – “After that semi-final defeat we were so demoralised that I think it became inevitable that one day we would join the euro.” He was a bit drunk, and he may have been joking. But if his remark meant anything, I think it was something like this – “If you can’t beat them, you might as well join them”. Maybe that is a sentiment they could incorporate into the Berlin declaration?
