"Preamble" to a constitution for new confederation of European nations: text and context

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“Preamble” to a constitution for new confederation of European nations:

text and context

David Engels, Chair of Roman World History, Free University of Brussels, Senior Analyst, Institute for Western Affairs (27, Mostowa st., 61-854 Poznan, Republic of Poland)

Abstract

The idea of protecting the European essence from collapse due to modern challenges (migration, terrorism, tensions between the EU and Asia, threats from the Middle East, discord in relations with Russia) is not new and has been discussed many times by many researchers. The author offers his solution for these and many other challenges. His vision of united Europe is offered in the preamble to the Constitution of a new confederation of European nations. This text is not an official position for political action or propaganda. This message is necessary to broaden the horizons for those Europeans who are accustomed to living for the sake of modern realities, without looking back at the great past of Europe. The author sees the solution to the impending challenges of our time in the history of European states, their economic and social development. The author proposes to Europe - if it wants to survive in the 21st century as a civilization, it needs to return to historical values and traditions that shaped it since the Middle Ages, and moreover, sharply reduce Brussels' tendency towards centralism. Wherein a close partnership should be maintained between European countries in key policy areas. The proposed preamble appears to be a unifying political program that can act as gathering point for politicians and citizens with different views.

Keywords: Constitution, unity, protection, history, modern challenges

Аннотация

«Преамбула» к конституции новой конфедерации европейских наций: текст и контекст

Дэвид Энгельс, заведующий кафедрой римской истории в Брюссельском свободном университете, старший аналитик

Институт западных дел (Республика Польша, 61-854, Познань, ул. Мостова, 27)

Идея защиты европейской нации от краха из-за сложившихся современных вызовов (миграция, терроризм, напряженность между ЕС и Азией, угрозы с Ближнего Востока, разлад в отношениях с Россией) не нова и неоднократно обсуждалась многими исследователями. Автор предлагает свое решение этих и многих других задач. Его видение единой Европы предложено в виде «преамбулы» к Конституции новой конфедерации европейских наций. Этот текст не является официальной позицией для политических действий или пропаганды. Он носит информативный характер для расширения кругозора тех европейцев, которые привыкли жить в угоду современным реалиям, не оглядываясь на великое прошлое Европы. Автор видит решение вызовов современности в истории европейских государств, их экономического и социаль-ного развития. Автор предлагает Европе, если она хочет выжить в 21 веке как цивилизация, вернуться к историческим ценностям и традициям, которые формировали ее со времен средневековья, а кроме того, резко снизить тенденцию Брюсселя к централизму. При этом необходимо поддерживать тесное партнерство между европейскими странами в клю-чевых областях политики. Предлагаемая преамбула представляется объединяющей политической программой, которая сможет выступить в качестве сборной точки для политиков и граждан с различными взглядами.

Ключевые слова: Конституция, единство, защита, история, современные вызовы

Introduction

Europe is in a deep crisis, as it is simultaneously confronted by such different challenges as ecological issues, globalization, mass migration, the re-shifting of traditional family structures, demographic shift, the decline of traditional religion, deindustrialization, social polarisation, unemployment, debt crises, the slow breakdown of solidarity between masses and elites, supranational federations, asymmetrical wars, parallel societies, fundamentalism, decaying infrastructure, terrorism, hedonism, an aging society, juridical relativism, radical capitalism, ever-growing social spending, increasing criminality, dysfunctional bureaucracies, populism.

But far from being in a position to tackle these issues at leisure, Europe is also being put under pressure by an ever more menacing global situation: the US, already growingly disinterested in Europe since Obama, is in a deep inner crisis which will poison its political climate for years, perhaps decades to come; Russia has failed to be integrated into the Western State system, provoking again a deep rift in the middle of our continent; in Africa, mass poverty and the continent's demographic explosion have led to a migration phenomenon which will sooner or later confront Europe with extremely difficult moral choices; in the Middle East, fundamentalist Islam, filled with hatred and resentment for the ancient colonial powers and for what it perceives as Western moral decadence, is a constant source of unrest and far-reaching terrorism; and in the East, China has become a world power busy bringing Central Asia, Africa and, sooner or later, Europe under its economic and, indirectly, political sway.

More than ever, Europe needs to be united and to create solidarity between its nations and its citizens. However, solidarity is impossible without a common identity, and the mere notion of “humanity” may not be enough to explain to a German citizen why he or she should show more solidarity with a Greek citizen in distress than with an Indian or Malaysian. Hence the need for a common European identity. But what is “Europe”?

Europe is much more than just the sum of all people believing in “Human rights”, and Europe is also much more than just the sum of the people who currently live on the European continent. Europe has often been defined as a combination between Classical heritage, Christian tradition, and the values of the Enlightenment, and while this is undoubtedly true, we also have to add to these exterior elements the notion of the “Faustian” spirit as the ultimate archetype of the Western psychological worldview, without which we would be unable to understand the transformation of Greek philosophical materialism into idealism, of Roman static city-state administration into an expanding imperial logic or of Fatalist Oriental Messianism into Heroic Medieval Christianity. Europe, that is not only a result of historical influences but also the permanent wish to be higher, stronger, swifter, the Habsburgian “Plus ultra” with all its consequences - positive and negative.

Of course, the advocates of the present-day European Union, largely dominated by political correctness, often assert that such a historical and psychological interpretation of identity as well as all opposition to their doctrine amount to calling for a return to nationalism, far-right authoritarianism, and, ultimately, war. Yet the numbers of those wishing to bring together conservative patriotism and the defense of Western identity in order to face both its numerous internal and external threats are constantly on the rise. At the forefront of this movement are the Visegrad states, which explains why a Polish institution, the “association of artists for the Republic” (“Stowarzyszenie Tworcow dla Rzeczypospolitej”), presided by MEP Zdzislaw Krasnodqbski (PiS/ERC), has taken the initiative to launch, in 2020, the redaction of a preamble to a future Constitution for a “Confederation of European Nations” and entrusted me with this task. preamble constitution european nation

It is always difficult to analyze one's own texts, and even more so when it comes to justifying and explaining political positions, which are by nature bound to disagreement and polemics. This is especially true for political documents meant to federate instead of dividing, and whose subliminal aims and objectives should be of less importance than the numerous interpretations the reader is invited to develop himself (and which may sometimes even lead to the further evolution of such a text in wholly new directions). Nevertheless, for the sake of the argument, I will try to sketch, in the following, some very general reflections that accompanied and motivated the redaction of the preamble, so that at least some of its possible implications may become clear to the general public.

Hesperialism

The “Preamble” to Constitution for a future Confederation of European Nations, which notably draws upon the new Hungarian Constitution and touts both the Greco-Roman and Judeo-Christian heritage of the continent, is placed in the continuity with the ideology of “Hesperialism” as developed in the volume “Renovatio Europae” which I had the honor to edit in 2019 [Engels (ed.), 2019; See also: Engels, 2020] and which has been since then translated into numerous languages and broadly discussed everywhere in Europe. The main idea of “Hesperialism” is very simple.

Mass immigration, a decline of values, gender mainstreaming, radicalization, parallel societies, party cartels, social polarisation, debt crises - wherever one looks, Europe is disintegrating; politically correct universalism seems to have led the continent to the brink of disaster. Hence, it is high time for a return to those values which once were at the root of the greatness of the West, if we want to avoid the worst scenarios. This will only be possible through a fundamental renewal of Europe on the basis of a political creed which has been given the name of “Hesperialism” in allusion to the typically European longing for the utopian “Islands of the West” such as the Hesperides, Atlantis, Avalon, St. Brendan's isles or Morus' Utopia. On the one hand, Europe needs to be strong enough to protect the individual Nation State against the rise of China, the demographic explosion of Africa, the difficult relationship with Russia, and the radicalization of the Near East. But on the other hand, such a Europe will only find acceptance if it remains loyal to the historical traditions of the West instead of fighting them in the name of a chimeric multicultural universalism. Defense of the natural family, severe regulation of immigration, return to Natural Law, protection of a socially responsible economic model, radical implementation of subsidiarity, reinvigoration of the cultural roots of our identity, and renewal of our sense of beauty - these are, in short, the pillars of such a new, “Hesperialist” Europe.

Europe has to remain faithful to the legacy of its ancestors by assuring a positive relationship with the Classical and Christian traditions, by protecting the Western ideal of the family, and by fostering a healthy pride in the uniqueness of its own rich legacy. If there is to be a moral obligation to grapple with the crimes of one's own history - even generations after the events occurred - then there is also a duty to commemorate the great achievements and accomplishments of our civilization.

Thus, if Europe wishes to survive in the 21st century as a civilization, it will need to go back to the historical values and traditions that forged it since the Middle Ages and to drastically reduce Brussels' tendency towards centralism, while at the same time creating a close partnership between European nations in certain key policy areas. In this sense, the preamble seeks to be an open and federating political program that will be able to act as a rallying point for those conservatives that feel concerned by the defense of the West, regardless of the political families they may belong to within the European parliament.

Strategical goals

It may be (and has been) asked why Europe needs a proper constitution, as, on the one hand, the previous attempt of drafting a constitution has been a huge fiasco and resulted in the first main defeats of the European unification process, as the citizens of countries such as France, the Netherlands or Ireland voiced huge opposition towards this project, while, on the other hand, conservatives generally seem to rather support a dismantling and diminution of European institutions and legal texts and are usually opposed to any binding common constitution. This is, however, an error: on the one side, the opposition of many citizens was clearly not directed against the general idea of the European unification, but rather the concrete, highly problematic form it assumed; on the other side, the constitution presented in the following is not meant to deliver the citizen to an omnipotent Brussels administration, but rather to protect the people against the danger of a further uncontrolled and tentacular growth of an administration unchecked by any built-in limit - it is a constitution for Europe, but against European centralism.

In this context, it should be noted that the Preamble is not only meant to be an abstract political “utopia”, expressing an ideal vision of a conservative Europe. It is also and perhaps foremost meant as a strategic political instrument, intended to affect the current distribution of power on the European level and to radically break the usual political pattern, where the leftist-liberal elites are in power and dictate politics, while the conservatives are in the opposition and only react in a very passive way. As already expressed in “Renovatio Europae”, conservatives throughout Europe have to leave their usual defensive stance when it comes to the European Union and should rather take the offensive. This is also why the text is not or at least not mainly written for a merely Polish or even Eastern Central European audience, which is already mainly won over to the cause of a conservative Europe but is also supposed to appeal to people from Western Europe and to sensibilise them to a new, alternative view of the European unification project.

Indeed, in the current political situation of Europe, where long-standing projects for an ever tighter (and, most of all, ever more politically correct) Europe are even enhanced by the crisis of the Coronavirus, there is a real risk of seeing the current governments of Germany and France push through, during the next years, a fundamental reform of the European Union whose outlines become already quite obvious now when considering the projects for the post-Coronavirus “reboot” of the continent, which are essentially focused on ideology, not on reality. If conservative forces do not want to appear to the public as mere toothless and uninventive oppositional groups, but as active agents of change, they have to start as soon as possible a counteroffensive and oblige their opponents to discuss their arguments instead of the contrary.

Of course, it is obvious that such an alternative vision of Europe will never be accepted by the current majority in the European Parliament (and also in many national parliaments), as it is diametrically opposed to the predominant political ideology. However, as politics in a democratic framework is not (or at least, should not be) about realizing extreme ideals, but rather about negotiating compromises acceptable by large majorities, already the fact of presenting a viable and constructive alternative project to the current Union could have a certain impact on public opinion, as it contributes to dismantling the dominating rhetorical opposition of “European universalism vs. nationalist conservatism”. Thus, by showing that a European unification could be possible without subscribing to the current excesses of an ever more authoritarian political correctness, the numerous European citizens supporting the political mainstream only because they want to “defend” Europe against allegedly “nationalist” conservatives may rethink, sooner or later, their options.

Also, in order to present a real alternative and not only a sterile provocation, the ensuing “preamble” had to be as moderate and constructive as possible, as its aim was not to deter, but rather to attract such a public. This is why the text takes great care to discuss and analyze all those points which are bound to stir up vehement opposition from leftist-liberals in a very diplomatic and conciliatory, though nevertheless still unmistakably clear way, such as the fight against Islamic parallel societies and mass

immigration, the defense of the traditional family against the ever more present ideology of gender and LGBTQ, the subordination of the Law to the democratic wish of the people, the defense of life against mass abortion, the reintegration of Christianity into Europe's self-definition or a critical attitude towards unrestricted genetic experimentation. All these points are very explicitly included in the Preamble and have been formulated in a legally binding way, yet they have been expressed as conciliatory and open as possible so that even those readers much in favor of values such as tolerance or diversity could still see these positions as worthy of discussion. After all, the aim of a conservative European Confederation would not be the suppression of any form of opposition or minority, but rather the return to differentiating again between rule and exception, which would imply to proudly found the European society on all those historical values which still (consciously or unconsciously) muster a large social and cultural consensus, while allowing for and protecting all those peripheral groups that may emerge on the fringes of such a society, provided their behavior does not endanger the vital interests of the population's majority [Reactions in the media: Bender, 2020; Dolesniak, Harczuk, 2020; Engels, 2020(a); Engels, 2020(b); Engels, 2020(c); Engels, 2020(d); Engels, 2020(e); Engels, 2020(f); JM..., 2020; Karnowski, Karnowski, 2020; Krasnodqbski, Schulz, Engels, Legutko, 2020; Krasnodqbski, Zdzislaw et al., 2020; Krysztopa, 2020: Lenard, 2020; Marcell, 2020; Meetschen, 2020; Opalinsi, 2020; Royen, 2020; Theisen, 2020].

Preamble for a Constitution for the Confederation of European Nations (by David Engels)

We, the peoples of Europe, fully conscious of our historical responsibility, decide to establish a constitution and to bring the unification process of the continent to its conclusion. This constitution will create a confederation of nation-states that, while conserving their rights, agree to pursue a series of common objectives for the good of all, and for the care and protection of European civilization including: a coordinated foreign policy, the protection of European borders, the fight against crime, the extension of a pan-European mobility infrastructure, the coordination of norms and rules, access to natural and strategic resources, cooperation in the domain of education and research, and the provision of the funds necessary to pursue these aims.

This unification should put an end to numerous centuries of intra-European warfare. It is implemented in a spirit of profound affinity between the European people who, despite their conflicts, have always viewed each other as parts of a single common culture which is more than the simple sum of its components, and which has brought forth a specific and unique vision of the world and of mankind.

This culture is shaped by various sources: most notably, the teachings of the Old Testament, Greek thought, Roman art of state-building, Christian revelation, and the heritage of the Romanic, Germanic, and Slavic people. It came to light in an institutionalized form after the formation of the spiritual sovereignty of the Church and of the political authority of the imperial dignity restored in 800. In the centuries that followed, European culture realized its internal potential during the course of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and Modernity. As a result, it also opened itself up to the world - a world into which it wishes to enter today, with renewed and strengthened connections, through the adoption of a constitution.

Proud of the great achievements of our past, our constitution is founded on positive adherence to our traditional values, conscious that the prosperity and progress of the present would not have been possible without the achievements of our ancestors. This is why we wish to firmly anchor the evolution of the future in the past and to protect, conserve, and promote the cultural, social, and moral heritage -be it material or immaterial - which has been bequeathed to us.

We, the peoples of Europe, pledge before God and in accordance with our own conscience:

* to pursue, as the true mission of our community, the protection of our spiritual as well as our material heritage and the autonomous development of our cultural potential in view of our common aspiration towards truth, liberty, and the good life;

* to tolerate all religious and philosophical convictions in line with our established practices and, in particular, to care for, nurture, and maintain the heritage of the Judeo-Christian tradition and its links with rational philosophical thought, without which our European culture would have been inconceivable;

* to value and protect human life in all its stages of evolution and ages, as well as its dignity and unique individuality, as the highest gift with which we have been entrusted;

* to recognize as the ultimate source of all political decisions the democratic will of the people and to consider the interests of the peoples of Europe as a whole as the most important principle to guide all actions;

* to value the nations and peoples of Europe in their multiplicity and diversity as a precious and irreplaceable expression of the numerous facets of a common culture, to view them as the bearers of the European idea and of European institutions, and to respect them as autonomous political entities which henceforth wish to settle their disagreements though peaceful negotiation and arbitration;

* to intervene always to safeguard and increase the prosperity, security, liberty, order, peace, and mutual understanding of the peoples of Europe;

* to construct our community in such a way that all decisions are taken in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, as far as possible at the lowest competent and concerned level, while considering the nations as the main bearers of democratic self-determination and the expression of the cultural life of Europe;

* to organize our coexistence as a community under the rule of law, not only to guarantee equal and fundamental rights for all but also to always submit the creation of laws and the control of their interpretation to the will of the people;

* to consider the natural family, which results from the union between a man and a woman and the birth of children, and the rights and duties resulting therefrom, as the fundamental basis of European society and to give it particular protection, without however infringing on any alternative forms of cohabitation arising from the free decision of human beings;

* to guarantee the equality of men and women before the law, while taking into account particular qualities, rights, and duties associated with the sexes in line with their natural constitution;

* to educate our descendants in the spirit of the traditions and riches which have been bequeathed to us, instilling in them a desire to excel, both internally as well

* to protect the rights and duties resulting from ownership of private property while guaranteeing equality of opportunity, the right to honorable employment, the support of those in need, and the interests of the community;

* to wish to live in peace and harmony with our neighbors and all the other people of this Earth, particularly those with whom we are linked through positive experiences and a shared historical heritage, while securing the independence, interests, security, and survival of our culture;

* to take seriously our responsibility for our environment, and not only in the sense of justly safeguarding the balance of nature and ensuring careful stewardship of natural resources in Europe and the world but also of a morally responsible interaction with all living creatures.

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