Dear members, partners, and friends,

A German constitutional judge said recently: “Some criticism of the West seems justified: In their spiritual inertia and aimless hedonism, the Western societies not only consume natural resources, but also psychosocial treasures of everyday common sense and decency”.

Despite its perhaps exaggerated wording, this statement reminded me how important it is from time to time to reassess our values and beliefs- even those we usually take for granted, as the significance of the EU for Europeans.

It was one year ago, when my dear friend Luc Viehé, today’s spokesperson of CESI’s member ‘Spelc’, explained to me just before the last Spelc Congress in Paris last year that my speech there on the following day had to give satisfying answers to the question what is the European Union good for.

I got slightly angry, because this was a couple of weeks after the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. To my mind, the benefits of the EU for Europeans were clearer than ever at that time.

I remember that I delivered a quite emotional speech, and some months later, we met again in Paris, this time with all of CESI’s French member unions, and we agreed to organise a conference in the French capital with the title “A quoi ca sert?”, or in other words, (why) do we need the European Union?

However, it was soon clear that such a fundamental debate could not be limited in just one city, in just one country.

So we developed a larger European project from it and, last week, CESI travelled to Hungary, the country where 10 years ago our CESI Youth had been founded. In the historical city of Budapest, we gathered for a kick-off conference to together with politicians, academics, and trade unionists to discuss the importance of the European Union at a time when so many are questioning its value.

We shared our views on the meaning of the EU for us as citizens, workers, men, women, young and old, and we tried to delve into grassroots aspects of the EU that affect our lives: “What does democracy, the rule of law, a functioning system of checks and balances entail for us? Who are the key actors and institutions? What can every one of us do to maintain and support their performance and independence?”

Our discussions were not just about right or wrong but about convictions, arguments, and finally, persuasion. Persuasion that values such as liberal democracy, rule of law, and tolerance and our European social model, which are currently under threat in several places, are worth defending.

And I think, that after an open and honest conversation, most of us agreed that despite all the confusion of competences and all the unsolved problems, the EU still stands for cooperation, unity, peace and solidarity.

The European Union stands for respect (not for the tyranny of the fittest), it stands for separation of power (not for its concentration), it stands for the respect of human dignity (and not for its contempt).

The European Union, OUR Union, is a challenging, but wonderful project, and I am confident that we, as citizens, workers, trade unions, and public service deliverers must adhere to it!

Not only for us, but even more for future generations!