Europe's Strength Lies in Its Diversity

60 years ago in Rome, Germany, France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg signed a treaty establishing both the European Economic Community and the European Atomic Energy Community. Following on from the founding of the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951, the treaty signed in Rome represented the next fundamental step towards European integration through the establishment of a customs union and a common market. It is fascinating now to look back on the conditions under which the Treaty of Rome came to be.

Back in October 1950 the French Prime Minister René Pleven suggested the creation of a European Defence Community. While the national parliaments of the other European nations one after another approved the plan, it was in fact the resistance of the French National Assembly in 1954 that eventually prevented the organisation being established. The failure of the European Defence Community can, however, also be interpreted as the initial impetus for the Treaty of Rome. At the Messina Conference in June 1955, which directly preceded Rome, the main topic of discussion was once again economic cooperation between the European nations. From France's "no" to the European Defence Community to both the French and Dutch parliaments' rejecting the Treaty establishing a constitution for Europe in 2005, the European integration process has had its ups and downs. Many measures successfully implemented by the EU had often previously applied to varying groups of EU countries. For example, the terms of the Schengen Agreement on the removal of passport controls at Europe's internal borders originally only applied to five EU founding Member States – at a time when the Union in fact already had ten Member States. To this day the euro is also not used as a currency in all Member States.

With Great Britain's decision to leave the EU now being official, the Union is about to lose the second biggest economy in Europe. Brexit – alongside the nationalistic tone prevailing in the face of elections in a number of European countries – has made it perfectly clear that European integration is still not a guaranteed success. Not every EU Member State gives their backing to every EU project.

The EU is struggling to come up with the appropriate response to these developments. President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker recently laid out five potential scenarios for the future of Europe and was heavily criticised for not providing a clear plan among the variety of options. This demand for a clear plan from Brussels, however, seems to disregard the fact that national parliaments and citizens are calling for more sovereignty and a greater say in the decision-making process. It is therefore a good thing that the debate surrounding Europe has been moved back to the individual nations. Consequently, Juncker's third suggested scenario is becoming increasingly significant – namely, a Europe with different speeds of integration or, in slightly more neutral terms, a Europe with variable geometry.

Greater acceptance through shifting more decisions to the national level

Were treaties permitted that didn't have to be ratified by all EU countries, but that each country could join voluntarily, we would have a Europe with variable geometry in which synergies from different combinations of Member States could be utilized. Shifting the decision to take part in EU projects to the national level would counteract the perceived heteronomy of the EU institutions in Brussels and would as a result foster identification and acceptance of EU projects among the individual national populations.

The EU's strength lies in the fact that its members are able to manage projects such as the common market or the implementation of fair competition rules more efficiently and more effectively together than they could do on a national level. Other projects which could benefit from synergy effects include those involving refugees or defence. Since the signing of the Treaty of Rome, European cooperation has been based on individual nations taking the initiative, creating achievable synergies and being open to working with other nations. This basis has served the EU well thus far and Europe will continue to benefit from it for years to come.

This piece initially appeared on 25 March 2017 in the "Madsack Mediengruppe".