European Union going strong at 72
DURING my eight months in Eswatini, I have been asked frequently: What is the European Union (EU)? No better opportunity to talk about it than Europe Day, May 9.
The European Union is a peace project. Europe Day marks the anniversary of the Schuman Declaration of May 9, 1950, which called for the unification of Europe in order to make war on the continent impossible, while at the same time spreading peace and prosperity around the world. We have achieved our dream for peace; no EU member has experienced war on its territory after joining the union.
This year’s celebration is marred by a cruel and senseless war at our doorstep, waged by autocratic Russia against democratic Ukraine, in blatant violation of international and humanitarian law.
Aggression
This is not the first Russian aggression war: Moldova (1992), Georgia (2008) and Ukraine (since 2014) have already been attacked, in order to prevent them from conducting a domestic and foreign policy independent from Moscow. It reminds us now more than ever that the European Union was founded to bring peace and unity in Europe, a continent devastated in succession by World War I and World War II.
We, in the EU, are determined more than ever to restore and preserve peace on the European continent. Such ugly use of force and coercion has no place in the 21st century. That is why we have chosen to stand in solidarity with Ukraine in order to stop this war. Our support to the Ukrainians includes measures of assistance to the Ukrainian people and to the armed forces, the latter a first in EU history.
Since March 2022, the EU, together with our partners in the G7, has progressively imposed sanctions on Russia in order to weaken the Kremlin’s ability to finance this war of aggression. All we want is for Russia to immediately cease the hostilities, withdraw its military from Ukraine and fully respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence, as well as its stated desire to be able to choose its future path, including to join the EU.
“Make men work together, show them that beyond their differences and geographical boundaries lies a common interest,” Jean Monnet, one of the founding fathers of the EU history marks a long process of gradual integration: Economic, political, and most recently – security and defence. From the six founding members (Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands), the EU has grown to its current 27 member States, with a population of 450 million. Joining the union is not a straightforward journey. It requires full compliance with economic and political criteria, including commitment to our values, democracy, rule of law and human rights.
Dialogue is crucial to the European social fabric. The European citizens have been widely consulted on their vision for the common EU future through an inclusive and representative Conference on the Future of Europe. Citizens’ proposals will be presented to the institutions on May 9.
In our 27 member States, from my native Bulgaria to Sweden, and from Greece to Portugal, to name just a few, we work together toward prosperity and progress to improve the lives of the European citizens and of people around the world. The EU dedicates around 10 per cent of its budget to external action. We provide funding in the form of grants, contracts and budget support to our partner countries. We also work hand-in-hand with international organisations, private bodies and EU member States to increase the impact of our support.
For over 50 years, we have been a reliable partner of Eswatini’s development. The EU has contributed billions of Emalangeni to help the country improve access to clean and potable water, free primary education, health (including access to vaccines), sustainable agriculture, infrastructure development, strengthening of governance, democracy and human rights, institutional capacity building and trade facilitation.
Democracy
We are proud to be among the biggest supporters of the local civil society, we have relentlessly promoted democracy, the rule of law, fundamental rights and equality, with a special focus to gender equality, female empowerment, children and youth.
Just a few concrete examples: Between 2010 and 2015, the EU contributed extensively to help Eswatini achieve universal access to education by supporting free primary education. We have helped build modern roads and bridges to improve Eswatini’s infrastructure, such as the bridge at Siphofaneni, connecting the two towns of Siphofaneni and St Phillips. We have supported the agricultural sector and small holder farmers in the country for decades. The EU has contributed millions of Emalangeni to help mitigate the impact of COVID-19 in Eswatini. Through the COVAX facility, the EU has also helped to bring COVID-19 vaccines to Eswatini. We are working to help bring underprivileged students and pregnant girls back to school.
The EU has declared 2022 as the European Year of Youth, dedicating this year to the vision, engagement and participation of all young people, in order to build a better future that is greener, sustainable, more inclusive and digital. We, in Europe, are listening to our young people with the objective to co-create with our youth more and better opportunities for them to study and work.
We wish to see the same in our partner countries such as Eswatini. We are committed to helping young people and women in Eswatini with skills and jobs which will empower them to build a better future for themselves and the country. 27 member States: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
24 official languages.
447 million people.
One single currency: The Euro €/EUR.
Second biggest economy in the world.
The EU – member States and EU institutions collectively – is among the leading donors of humanitarian aid in the world.
5 trillion SZL (300 billion EUR) to be invested globally between 2021-2027 through the Global Gateway.
Key institutions: European Parliament (legislative, represents the citizens), European Council, Council of the European Union (represents the governments of the Member States), European Commission (executive), Court of Justice, European Central Bank.
Why do we do that? The EU is a union of values. Solidarity features high among these values, which we all share as Europeans, even if we speak 24 different languages and have different traditions. We value the respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and human rights. These values are set out in the EU Treaties and in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU, which brings together all the personal, civic, political, economic and social rights enjoyed by the EU citizens.
Globally, we are now focusing on our recently launched Global Gateway, a new European Strategy to boost smart, clean and secure links in digital, energy and transport, and strengthen health, education and research systems across the world. The Global Gateway stands for sustainable and trusted connections that work for people and the planet, to tackle the most pressing global challenges, from climate change and protecting the environment, to improving health security and boosting competitiveness and global supply chains.