Towards a federal Europe

There is no doubt that the economic, financial and monetary crisis that Europe has suffered in the last few years has exacerbated inequalities and calls for a reaction that facilitates a return to equitable growth. A European federal state, rather than a European inter-governmental Union, is necessary to achieve the triple objective of: 1) coordinating progress towards economic growth and prosperity in the context of more democratic and transparent politics, 2) making a European-wide effort to achieve higher levels of income equality through high taxation and a modernized welfare state, and 3) contributing to protecting the environment and tackling climate change by putting a price on emissions, and promoting under the leadership of a coordinated public sector at European level a new industrial revolution based on green energy.

Statist solutions are no longer sufficient to solve the problems of a monetary Union, and risk making Europe irrelevant relative to the other international and emerging powers.

As Olaf Cramme argues in the book “After the third way. The future of social democracy in Europe”, “social democracy must not underestimate the power of European integration at a time where the phenomenal pressures of globalization and far-reaching societal transformations are asking profound questions of all traditional political ideologies. At some point, a movement, initiative or policy idea will capture the attention of the wider European public. The center-left ought to make sure that it is part of it.”