“The French nuclear deterrant is an indispensable element in Europe’s security…When the time is ripe, together we will have to face up to the question of a common defense based in the perspective of a strong Europe that is responsible for its own security. This will have to take the existing deterrance forces into account…It shall be the guarantee of our strategic provisioning and the defence of the allies… States that resort to terrorist measures against us… must understand that they are laying themselves open to a firm and appropriate response from us.”
Jacques Chirac, speech at the Ile Longue base, 19 January 2006
The task of denouncing and resisting this rising security-based and militarist “Europe” is becoming increasingly urgent if we are to imagine embarking on any process of emancipatory social, political and ecological transformation within Europe, as well as globally. Here we are referring to the “Europe” which capital needs in order to promote (and impose) its interests within and without the Union. And, as such, unmasking and opposing this “Europe” might be our most important task, without which it will be impossible to journey towards other emancipatory scenarios which are just and in equilibrium with the environment. The security-based “Europe” is orientated to impede (and if necessary repress) the emergence of resistances to the plans of power, and to make difficult (or even impossible) the free expression of transformative popular initiatives. Thus, defending civil and political rights, conquered through decades of struggle and today facing grave threats, becomes a task of paramount importance. Simultaneously, and no less urgent, is the need to reject the Union (and its members’) militarist thrust and struggle for the peaceful resolution of conflicts through dialogue, mutual knowledge, and above all the progressive elimination of the root causes that underlie such conflicts. This task is urgent, not only because the social dimension in our societies is increasingly endangered by rising military expenditures, but also because the growing militarization of the Union’s member states is a far reaching element in the attempt to nip in the bud any processes aimed at bringing about profound structural changes to these states. Finally, when considering the urgency at hand, it must not be forgotten that the increasingly unjust and predatory (not to mention neo-imperialist) relations which the EU is forging with the rest of the world may require defending militarily.
This paragraph is an extract from a longer paper (available for download here: eumil (237KB)) that will be published as the epilogue of the english version of the book: The Complex Construction of ‘Europe’ as a Superpower (Virus, 2005), which is being promoted by the Transnational Institute from Amsterdam, and has been translated by Kolya Abramsky.