FAILURE TO build a sense of European patriotism was a major “design flaw” in the integration project, former taoiseach John Bruton has said.
On a visit to Paris as president of IFSC Ireland, Mr Bruton said the sovereign debt crisis had exposed serious deficiencies in the make-up of the EU and the euro. “We failed to take sufficient steps to build a sense of European patriotism. Economic management without patriotism is very difficult. Unless people feel that the Greeks are ‘us’, not ‘them’, that we are Europeans, it’s very difficult to get policies through,” he said.
Over 60 years, the union had moved closer economically without corresponding political integration, Mr Bruton said. At the convention to draft the ill-fated European constitution, he had found little support for a suggestion to have the president of the European Commission directly elected. “And yet we needed something like that to create an electoral experience that would make people feel they were one rather than 27. Now we’re paying the price for that in the difficulty in getting a political mandate for people to do what needs to be done.”
On Ireland’s crisis, Mr Bruton said it would be “very dangerous” for the country to impose a loss on any of its debts. “We don’t need to. We’re on course to overcome our problems ourselves, with the help of our partners and on the basis of the funding that has been made available to us. More importantly, if any country other than Greece were to do that, it would run the risk of creating a precedent that would be very, very dangerous indeed.”
Addressing a largely French audience, Mr Bruton said that when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) came to Ireland last year, “the majority of Irish people were pleased” because they knew rigorous controls would ensure responsible policy decisions.
“That’s a sign of political maturity. People did not regard this as an intrusion. They didn’t blame the European Union,” he said.
“There was no hostility to the IMF. I think the people from the IMF, when they were walking down the streets of Dublin, were surprised to see people smiling at them and saying, ‘good on you’.”
Ireland was “resolutely” facing up to its difficulties, he said. Public servants had been persuaded to accept a 14 per cent pay cut, competitiveness had improved, rents had fallen dramatically and the economy was growing.
“Irish people are the most enthusiastic supporters of the European Union,” he added.