Europe, through its unity, offers the possibility of an effective presence and of the capacity to have an impact on such a fast-changing world.
It is a great opportunity that our Country was able to grasp and contribute to building, with the decisive contribution of a statesman the likes of Alcide De Gasperi.
It arose out of elementary questions.
Is it preferable to have peace of war?
Is it possible to build a world in which States are not pitted against each other in the name of an artificial presumed national interest but, on the contrary, collaborate for the common good of their people?
Should prevalence be given to the dignity, liberty, and future of the people or should they be the object and instrument of the craze for power of the ruling classes?
It might seem obvious, a truism, yet it is not so.
Because it is precisely having been aware of these alternatives – which now seem to be reappearing – that the Union has been able to choose to take a completely new direction, unthinkable up to only a few years earlier, taking an extraordinary road towards peace and the assertion of rights; pooling together aspirations and resources, starting with the ones needed for post-conflict reconstruction: coal and steel.
At that moment, the moral and material wasteland that the continent had been reduced to by Nazi fascism was decisive in orienting towards making lofty decisions.
The impetus shown during those difficult times would be sufficient to tackle our current issues.
Hesitations are not acceptable.
The European Union has established itself as an area of peace and cooperation capable of projecting its values beyond its borders, determining stability, wellbeing, growth and trust.
It has never sparked a conflict; it has never triggered a commercial dispute. On the contrary, it has facilitated agreements and launched peace-keeping missions.
It has contributed to enhancing living standards and global defence criteria.
It has promoted meetings and dialogue and has fostered liberty in international relations, equality in the protection of rights between peoples and States: the condition and cause of progress.
Therefore, one question needs to be asked before any other.
On these grounds, how can some ever consider Europe to be an obstacle, and an adversary, if not an enemy?
What reasons, underlying interests, and principles that are the groundwork for the civil cohabitation and the achievements of the European people could ever be considered by some to be disvalues?
It is only by answering questions of this type with clarity of mind that we will be able to find exhaustive answers useful to cast light on the choices that we are called to make, lacking which we will lapse into irrelevance and backtrack from the results achieved up to now.
The world needs Europe.
To reconstruct the centrality of international law that has been disrupted.
To relaunch the prospects of cooperative multilateralism.
To establish rules that lead back to the common good the overwhelming weight of global corporations – practically novel Companies of the Indies – that claim powers that are presumably not to be exercised by States and international Organizations.
The mix between these ambitions and the neo-imperialist drive to dominate manifested by the governments of some Countries, risks being lethal for the future of humankind.
Europe is, at the same time, a necessity and a responsibility.
Europe’s business and social forces, its world of culture and civil society, must be led to feel the necessity and responsibility of being part-takers and builders, and not only defenceless and fearful spectators.
Europe’s democracies are capable of finding within themselves the motivations and initiatives to prevent them from surrendering to the narrative of the superiority of autocratic regimes and to not give in to the idea of a torn world made up only of rivals, enemies, vassals or clientes, nor to the idea of fragmented societies.
Experience suggests that important milestones can only be achieved through a close and mutually respectful relationship between institutions and civil society.
The world of business and workers have always been key players in this sense. By creating wellbeing, favouring innovation, expanding exchanges and opportunities, they have opened up new horizons and generated and distributed wealth while, at the same time, making democracies stronger through the implementation of social rights.
Today more than ever economic and labour forces are aware that Europe’s leverage is decisive.
We need stronger European institutions, the will of governments capable of not surrendering to dangers and setbacks that are not inescapable.
Europe, with its milestones of civilization, is the testimony that we can and must hand down to the new generations.
Defending Europe’s civilization – an integral part of the development of its society and its economy – requires the courage of making a leap forward towards its unity.
We are all called to contribute towards this achievement.
Let me thank the participants of this Forum for their support.
