Gabor Steingart

Good evening everybody! A warm welcome, to our German Ambassador Mr. Scharioth. And many thanks to the board of Goldman Sachs, for inviting us. And last but not least: It’s great to welcome Mr. Fareed Zakaria, my famous American colleague.
 
Even as a dedicated newspaper man I would like to warn you: Don´t believe everything which is written in our press today. Especially when it comes to Europe.
 
You read a lot about „crisis“, the Euro crisis, the Ireland drama, the Greek tragedy, but what pessimists see as a huge crisis of the continent is really just the latest stage in the birth pangs of a new country. What we are really seeing is the delivery of a new state, I would call it the United States of Europe – with one single currency, one parliament, one constitution, and at least one government, which will start very soon with the coordination of all our economic and financial assets. You can hang on and call it a crisis, but it would be no contradiction to read it as a birth announcement.
 
What is your telephone number, Henry Kissinger asks over and over again? But the question is unfair. A baby has no telephone number; even our facebook-twitter-google-generation is disconnected from the beginning.

And the United States of Europe is not out yet. We only see the legs. The new country is coming out upside down. That’s why there is a lot of screaming and groaning. And a lot of fear, because even the easiest delivery can sometimes go wrong.

Europe’s movement toward unification has always been the product of crisis. World War II convinced people and their leaders to start a cross border cooperation. Shortly after the war ended the steel and coal industry started working together.

This was due in part to the fact that there was no other means to meet the needs of a starving European society.

The Cold War helped a lot to bring Western Europe together. From partners in fear, we became friends, political and personal. As young people we started buying the InterRail Ticket from our public railway companies. The word “flat rate” was not yet invented, but the InterRail ticket worked exactly like that. For a small amount of money we discovered those parts of Europe our fathers had only visited as soldiers.

The Soviet Union gave us another push toward unity. Their aggressive behavior behind the Iron Curtain helped our politicians to expand the idea of a European Community. From the very beginning, common fear as much as a collective vision united us. As German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer once said: “European Unity was a dream of a few people. It became a hope for many. Today it is a necessity for all of us.”

Very early on European statesmen began creating a monetary relationship. Even if all the statesmen tried to give sound economic justifications for the merger, the monetary union was first and foremost a political creation.

Later on German Re-Unification came and proved the Iron Lady in Number 10 Downing Street wrong. She feared the rebirth of German Nationalism. But what we experienced was an even faster shift toward a united Europe. The Euro was introduced. The European market became a reality. And the European Central Bank started its work.

The last push in the delivery process came out of this city, and the last strong labor pain was triggered by the big investment banks on Wall Street. And like always: it was failure which helped us most. Without the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, without the financial crisis, followed by a grim recession and the panic it caused around the world, the European Idea would have seen stagnation and maybe some sort of resignation. But again the crisis worked as a midwife.

We created the Euro Stability Boards; we set new rules for a common fiscal policy. Europeans really helped each other. The Germans gave their beloved money to Greece and to Ireland – and in turn we have experienced the strongest recovery, Germany has ever seen since the Economic Miracle. While we helped them, we helped us. Europe as a decision making body is a fact.

Will the baby emerge quickly? I don´t think so. There is still a lot of scepticism, and the danger of an Anti-European backlash is looming. At present, we are desperately missing a democratic face of the United States of Europe. We have to push for it. Europe must catch up with the democratic traditions and expectations of the people. The bureaucratic EU commission is not a long-term solution. Sometimes these guys look more like the Chinese Politburo than like a democratic government, empowered by the people. Our little Mubarak is called Barroso. It’s not possible to get rid of him and all the other commissioners through elections. Mr. Zakaria wrote a great piece this week about “The year of Revolutions”. These millions of young people have concerns that need to be addressed, and aspirations that need to be fulfilled.

Also the debt burden of our friends in the south of Europe could create severe frictions. We should help them to overcome their spending habits. Euro Bonds could be part of the package. We should help them to create real growth rates, not the kind of growth rates some advisers created in relation to the Greek balance sheet. (I’m not allowed to name names here, Mr. Debelius).

Last but not least: Who are the parents of the baby to come? Tricky question. Ask Elton John or the American Octomom how it works with different sets of fathers and mothers. One thing is for sure: Many people were involved. The process sometimes looked similar to those bunga-bunga parties Mr. Berlusconi enjoyed.

Even Americans have been involved, their government, their business community and ordinary citizens. You should be proud: The United States of Europe will be your baby too. So let’s push for the rest together. Let’s take a deep breath – or instead a deep gulp from our glass. Cheers!

Now it’s my great honor and pleasure to introduce a human GPS-system, a man who helps us to navigate through our ever-changing world. A big round of applause for Fareed Zakaria; Editor-at-Large of TIME Magazine, bestselling book author, and prominent media personality. You inspire a whole generation of journalists. We are more than excited to hear your speech.