Every polity needs an organizing principle to focus and direct its efforts. This principle is never singular or uncontroversial, but it is always present, affecting all political decisions and movements.
Consider, as an example, the United States. From its founding to the present, the United States has been motivated by a principle of American exceptionalism. The nation saw itself as a city upon a hill, a beacon for democracy, freedom, and progress. Of course, the realization of this ideal has been questionable at best, and many groups and individuals within the United States have, since the beginning, fought for different visions of America. But the broader point is that the US has some sense of itself, of where it is trying to go. During times of crisis and change, an ideal can serve as a great source of clarity.
This week, after reading about more trouble in the Irish Sea and controversy over potential EU expansion in the Balkans, I have begun to suspect that the EU lacks a clear organizing principle. To be sure, it has voiced principles: mutual prosperity, peace, democratic governance, and liberal values. But none of these really distinguishes the EU from the constitutional frameworks of most Western countries, nor do these stated principles offer clarity for tangible, strategic dilemmas that the EU faces.
Should the EU expand to cover the entire European continent, eventually including places like Russia and Turkey? Does it want to be fundamentally inward facing, focusing, as Macron seems to, on internal cohesion and improvement? Maybe one and then the other? Does the EU desire to serve, collectively, as a new city upon a hill, a champion for democracy?
There are no strong answers to these questions. The raison d'état of the EU is still up for grabs. And this is understandable. After all, people continue to ignore (or seem to forget?) that the current form of the Union is incredibly young, between twenty and thirty years old depending on which treaty you choose. What’s more, the EU faces the added complication of being unique; there has never been a political project quite like it in all of human history. So we will all have to be patient as democracy, circumstances, and individual personalities continue to battle over the soul of the EU.
Recent events, however, have made the need for answers more urgent. The UK is out, Turkey and Russia are more hostile than ever, Poland and Hungary feel like Western paternalism is out of control. These problems will continue to spiral and fester so long as individual members of the EU continue to disagree about what it all means. Without any real idea of where it is going, without even a delusional ideal to strive towards, the whole body will find itself in a perpetual limbo – pulled in all directions, moving in none.
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