President Barroso at the presentation of “The crisis of Europe”: “let's ‘fight’ together for a stronger, more united and open Europe”
Today, President Barroso presented the French and English version of the book “The crisis of Europe”. The book, which was written in 1942 by Abel Salazar (1889 - 1946), is now published by Orfeu, the Portuguese bookshop in Brussels. The event took place at the Portuguese Permanent Representation and it was hosted by Ambassador Fezas Vital.
“The European Union is certainly the most impressive creation in the history of international relations. No other political construction to date has proven to be a better way of organising life to lessen the barbarity in this world. It is in many ways a laboratory for globalisation, both in the sense of subordinating power politics to the rule of law as well as by being a testing ground for successful cross-border supranational cooperation. And the success of this process is to be measured in terms of peace, stability and prosperity.”, the President said.
President Barroso highlighted that the “answer to the financial crisis and to a loss of competitiveness of a number of countries is "more Europe", not less”. In reforming their economies, he said, Member States agree to further pool their sovereignty, and “efforts have started to pay off. For Europe, recovery is within sight but there is no room for complacency.”
On the European elections, he said: “We are in a difficult situation where pessimism about Europe has been exacerbated by the economic crisis and the social crisis and when, more than ever, many national politicians tend to nationalise successes and Europeanise failures. This is the moment to mobilize all the pro-European forces and not leave the initiative in the hands of the doomsayers on all sides of the political spectrum. (…) European elections are not just about parties; they are about the people and about ideas, a certain idea of Europe”.
“Abel Salazar's life and writings are certainly a welcome and valuable source of inspiration”, the President concluded.