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"The EU must seek greater convergence and should not tolerate certain social floors in any of its members"

Joaquín Almunia and Daniel Innerarity brought the Ivie and Ernest Lluch Foundation’s series of debates on Inequalities and Democracy to a close

The Ernest Lluch Foundation and the Ivie brought together the former European Commissioner and current Chairman of Think-Tank CEPS, Joaquín Almunia, and the Professor of Political and Social Philosophy, Researcher at “Ikerbasque” of the University of the Basque Country, Daniel Innerarity, at a session in Valencia to discuss the future of Europe. This was the last in the series of 5 Dialogues on “Inequality and Democracy” held in Valencia between 25 September and 22 November and sponsored by the Ernest Lluch Foundation and the Ivie.

On this occasion, the theme of the debate was “A perplexed Europe: imperfect democracy and the European social model—under review”. Topics addressed included the challenges facing the common European project threatened by Brexit, the upsurge in anti-EU populism and the absence of a common migration policy, all the more conspicuous for the mismanagement of the arrival of refugees.

Both Daniel Innerarity and Joaquín Almunia agreed that these threats have spread perplexity throughout the European scene and emphasized the need to develop an intelligible discourse on the European Union and show citizens how the EU works, so as to win their confidence. According to Innerarity, the overarching goals of the European Union, such as peace and democracy, no longer have the appeal they once had, so new perspectives are needed. For Almunia, in contrast, democracy is still at risk and Europe must set an example and export democratic values to other countries beyond the European borders.

Almunia argued that if the European institutions want to preserve the European social model, they must take action, seek convergence and not tolerate certain social floors in any member country. They also need to set major new goals in relation to issues such as globalization and climate change.

On the subject of Brexit and Euroscepticism, Innerarity explained that the effect of Great Britain’s exit has not been as expected, as the contagion initially feared has not occurred, rather the opposite. Almunia emphasized that “the only way countries can maintain their decision-making authority, that is, their sovereignty, within the EU is by sharing it. But that is something governments dare not acknowledge to their citizens.” Almunia also pointed out that the changes in levels of inequality have not occurred in all countries or to the same extent. The particular features of each country and the policies implemented in each case have been decisive.

The two speakers also addressed the refugee drama. According to Innerarity, the mismanagement of the refugee crisis has destroyed Europe’s model for dealing with refugees because of the cruelty of some Member States and a completely unjustifiable deal with Turkey. Almunia agreed that asylum policy has been poorly managed, creating greater tensions between countries than those caused by the economic crisis. In his opinion, “we need to achieve a European immigration policy, not just an asylum and refugee policy, because otherwise not only will we be left without workers, but also one of the EU’s great achievements, the free movement of people, will be in jeopardy.”

The chairman of the Ernest Lluch Foundation, Joan Majó, closed the series of 5 Dialogues on “Inequalities and Democracy” with a mention of Professor Lluch, murdered by ETA 18 years ago, and called for a minute’s silence in his memory. He also announced that the Ivie and the Ernest Lluch Foundation will continue to work together to organize further series of debates, also in Valencia.