Hajnalka VINCZE is a security policy researcher specialized in European and transatlantic issues. Her analyses deal with intra-European and Euro-American power relations, with a particular emphasis on the strategic dimension
and the technological-industrial basis. She takes position in favour
of an autonomous, political Europe. Her commitment to the
preservation and promotion of the European model makes
her a long-time advocate of the core Europe concept.

"As long as war does not take place, one should talk as if it could not to take place." (Aristide Briand, 1932)

Publications

Europe’s French conscience

Népszabadság Online 27 May 2005

Language of the original publication: Hungarian

It is worth to recall a sentence of Madelaine Albright, former US Secretary of State, according to which: "to understand the European Union one must be a genius - or a French". Indeed, France constitutes the cornerstone of the whole European construction: in its capacity as the guardian of the temple, the one who attends to the pursuit of the strategic purposes.

The fact is however seldom evoked that it is only thanks to France that Europe has still a role to play on the international scene. Without France, the Union would have become a politically unconscious club, strategically subordinated, militarily at the mercy of foreign powers and thus economically easy to blackmail.

In view of the innumerable distortions which appeared before the referendum of May 29, it is worthwhile to make some obvious observations. In France, the immense majority of those who are opposed to the treaty want the exact same thing as those who take position in its favour. A more European Union. When they talk with disdain about "liberal Europe", the French condemn the lack of rules: the political deficit. This absence of political counterweight to the economic aspects is precisely the biggest plague of the integration such as it presents itself today, and this is perceptible in every field.

In any event, the referendum campaign has three undeniable results. Following the very knowledgeable debates, which had lasted nearly one year, the majority of the French are more in tune with the most important European issues than the bulk of the self-proclaimed "specialists" in other countries.

Most importantly, beyond the divisions of the moment, a great convergence can be observed as for the broad policy line to follow, and this could constitute a very solid base for the European policy of the Quay d’Orsay in the future. Lastly, the all-European panic surrounding the referendum shows perfectly well France’s paramount importance, which has nothing to do with arithmetic calculations. All things considered: whatever the result of the referendum and whatever the attempts of minimization or dramatization whose it will be the object, the essence remains the same: France is crucial and the French "understand" the Union better than ever.

The French text offers a rough translation possibility into English at the bottom of the page.