The Council of Europe: guardian of human rights
Strasbourg
On 18 November 2022, a delegation of the European Seniors’ Union undertook a study visit to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg.
The European house must be built in solidarity
The European house must be built in solidarity
On 14th of September the ESU participated in an event organized by Sdružení křesťanských seniorů (SKS) and supported by the Hans Seidel Foundation and the European Academy for Democracy at the occasion of the Czech Presidency of the EU Council, from 1 July until 31 December 2022. We thank our ESU Vice-President Lidmila Nemcova, all supporting partners involving in particular Vice-President of the Czech Parliament Jan Bartošek for the interesting opportunity to participate in this event. Together we underlined the importance of defending Europe’s fundamental values and facing the many challenges ahead.
‘Europe as a task: rethink, rebuild, repower’
The priorities of the Czech’s presidency are reflected in its motto: ‘Europe as a task: rethink, rebuild, repower.’ It focuses on five closely linked priority areas as a response to the current challenges in Europe, in solidarity with Ukraine and that country’s reconstruction as its top priorities. Prioritizing the resilience of democratic institutions, including focusing on the protection of media freedom and the rule of law, can be seen as an overall ambition to restore trust in EU politics and strengthen democracy in our societies.
The slogan “Europe as a Task” reminds us of the title of a speech made by Václav Havel (1936-2011) in 1996. Almost a quarter of a century ago, Havel was speaking about the history and future of Europe and referred to threats to civilisation, potential conflicts, limited resources, damage to the environment and growing social inequalities. He highlighted the political need for European unity and described the EU as a peerless attempt to make Europe into a unified, democratic space of solidarity.
The European house must be built in solidarity
Several speakers developed aspects of the general theme of the event “The European Union – house on the rock or house on the sand?”. Among others, An Hermans underlined the importance of solidarity. She said: “Today, all these years later, Havel’s words sound like the crystal-clear call for European unity, based on the basic values of the European project. This is, dear ladies and gentlemen, the European house, where neither the basic values, nor the building blocks, nor the decorations are self-evident. If we want to stand for Europe, we must renew our basic values and build the future together every day. Our founding fathers even knew that, as it was already in the Schuman Declaration (1950):
“Europe will not be made all at once,
or according to a single plan.
It will be built through concrete achievements which
first create a de facto solidarity.”
The need for unity and solidarity
The Czech presidency, like the French and Swedish presidencies of the Council of the EU and in cooperation with the European Parliament and the EU Commission, will have to go through a complex and challenging period. We wish them every success in this and were honored to be present in Prague to be part of it all.
For further information on the Presidency, please refer to the Presidency website.