This section gathers articles written by Vision’s editorial staff or journalists friends to Vision: each contribute will be dedicated on present issues and interests and its purpose will be to stimulate answers and letters from the readers and launch opinion polls on issues of particular relevance.
On the occasion of Live Earth, the set of concerts that took place on July 7, in several cities across the world, Vision launches a collection of articles about major issues related to climate change and politics. This collection is also an opportunity to discuss the question of energy from different perspectives. The focus will be on specific issues related to climate change through a set of articles that reflect more personal opinions from people whose work and interests are directly related to the subject.
Fifthy years after the beginning, Europe looks increasingly like a trendy restaurant where the queue becomes the primary cause for and consequence of continuing demand. All the while, the regulars, already seated at their tables dining, have become more and more apprehensive as to what is in the sauce. It is among the old members of the club that dissatisfaction is rising: “The service is not as good as it used to be, and even the quality of the food is not what it once was”. Some of the newer members, once inside, have even begun lamenting the lamentable – namely that the place lacks a certain something and isn’t as great as they had imagined while waiting outside in the queue. Europe seems trapped. Though it grows ever larger it appears in no way ever more united in terms of the depth of shared objectives. What does Europe stand for? Which of the increasingly more dramatic and less governed problems of globalisation should Europe choose to address? And how can we remind ourselves, as European citizens, that even peace and democracy are not assets to be taken for granted, whereas they are in fact dynamic targets that can be ensured only if we continuously fight for renovating, defending, conquering them?
Vision has always dedicated particular attention on Europe and on the future of the constituting process. After the recent transformations of the Union (the enlargement, the new Constitution) Vision is relaunching the project of a European Think Tank Lab. Are the referenda signs of an irreversible crisis of Europe? Is the crisis even larger, does it tell of a much wider decline of the entire set of values (democracy, reason, openness) upon which our societies were built? Can we see opportunities and can we divide them from the dangers? How do alternative interpretations of the problem (jobs and competitiveness, stability and welfare, enlargement, efficiency and legitimacy of the institutions) compare to each other in terms of ability to explain? How strong is the relationship between democracy and competitiveness? What kind of constitution do we need in the 21st century and which were the merits and the mistakes of the treaty? What kind of Europe would we imagine if we could redesign radically its mission and mechanisms to deliver? What should be its boundaries, if any? Where should we start in order to seriously engage young, mobile segments of the public opinion in the construction of the new Europe? Can the British presidency be the right opportunity to experiment a new method to push the project forward? After the French and Dutch “no” to referenda on the Constitutional Treaty, Vision’s position paper is a starting point for international contributions on the future of the “European dream”. Each of the article we are presenting is a call for further opinions and ideas.
What kind of Europe is emerging from one of the most crucial month in its recent history? Do the European elections represent the beginning of the end of the European Union project? How strong are the new constitutional treaty and the Commission that is taking shape? Some friends of Vision, young international people who will take part to our new new project on Europe Think Tank Lab, replied to Vision about this crucial issue.
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