A. ON THE FUTURE OF THE EU

- EUROPE 2020 PAPERS (a selection of F. Biancheri fundamentals)
The EU now appears to be ready to launch itself into the great adventure of establishing a common foreign policy. Obstacles no longer appear to involve the will of the leaders or the coherence of different actions and approaches. For example, the relevant question of diplomatic human resources on the horizon of 2020 is no longer “who wants to be a European diplomat?” but rather “who still wants to be a national diplomat?”...
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- The European Union confronted with the challenge of its own democratization (23/11/2004)
An immense democratic/political "depression" is in the midst of being created in the very heart of European continental politics. The 200 million voters that chose not to participate in June 2004 are the proof. The Euro has broken the certainty of 350 million Europeans. Europe has entered their pockets, and seemingly, just as rapidly, entered their heads as the evidence that important decisions were escaping their national boundaries...
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- Europe in 2009: Could end up in the hands of the post modern great grand sons of Hitler, Franco, Mussolini and Petain (Nov. 1998)
The prospective analyses for the 1998-2020 period conducted in the framework of Project Europe 2020 reveals that the 2006-2010 era will constitute a new historical "node" for the EU, just as it is the case with the running 1998-2020 era. 2009 was chosen as key year due to the European election and Commission renewal planned for this date. Related to the path the EU will have taken by that time, a number of totally diverging scenario will be elaborated for the period leading to 2020...
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- Immigration, Civilisations, European Integration …, only one question matters: Do we want or not that the immigrants' children become true Europeans? (12/10/2001)
Since WWII, almost all EU countries, one after the other, have discovered the issue of immigration, while for decades or centuries they were only emigration countries. France is the only European country facing immigration for almost two centuries. UK, Germany, Holland, Scandinavia, Italy, Spain, … all of them have been exporting their human resources all along the XVIIIth, XIXth and early XXth century. On the contrary, nobody or almost nobody was coming to settle in their homeland...
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- Fifteen Fundamental Principles and Reform Proposals for a Democratized Europe in the coming decades (Jan 2004)
COMING FROM DEBATES WITH 10.000 CITIZENS IN 25 EUROPEANS COUNTRIES
This new version of Newropeans Proposals is the outcome of a double process, resulting from the Newropeans Democracy Marathon which took place in 2002-2003. This Marathon was the occasion of debates on the future of Europe, in 100 cities of 25 European countries, gathering about 10.000 citizens. An original document comprising 14 Newropeans proposals was then discussed...
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- December 17th 2004: the day the European Council lost the EU people’s confidence ? (01/12/2004)
All around the EU, and in particular in countries where referenda on the EU Constitution will take place, the question of possible Turkey’s accession to the EU has become, by far, the prominent topic of people’s discussions when it comes to EU’s future. And, if one agrees to ignore the surveys and polls paid either directly by Turkish money, or by pro-Turkish lobbyists, the simple fact is that a very large majority of European citizens (from 60% to 90% depending on the country) are opposed to it...
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- The two enlargements facing the European Union : Democratic and Geographical (03/09/2001)
Contrary to the dominant discourse of the day, the EU is not faced with enlargement on the one hand, and a deepening on the other; rather, it is faced with two enlargements: the geographical one which has been ever-present in European debate at an institutional level for a decade now; and another, democratic enlargement, which has been completely absent from such debate...
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- What legislative body for the EU by 2010 ? (28/05/2002)
Today, at various degrees, the EU has 3 legislative bodies: the Council, the European Parliament and the Commission. That's a lot for a political entity already made complex by its multinational structural. In a democracy, simple solutions have appeared to be the most sustainable and satifactory ones...
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- Towards a new EU institutional geography for a Europe closer to its citizens
A series of seminars Eurorings April 2002 - February 2003
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- VISION 2020 : Reinventing Europe 2005-2020 - a book coordinated by Franck Biancheri
and remarked ever since its first publishing in June 2002. Jean Guyot, First financial director of the European Coal and Steel Community and former collaborator of Jean Monnet, prefaced the book. A content which throws the traditional European visions up-side down!
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- GlobalEurope 7 : EU / Transversal Axes
What common foreign policy for the EU in 2020 ?
EU neighborhood, UN reform, Human resources, Democratic legitimacy
Helsinki (Finlandia Hall), October 26th-27th, 2004 - Organized by Europe 2020 in cooperation with the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs
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B. THE EU-US RELATIONS IN FRANCK BIANCHERI's ARTICLES

( a selection of TIESWEB writings)

- A European proposal for a US exit strategy in Iraq or how can the US succeed in stabilizing Iraq while cutting back 100.000 US troops ? (08/09/2004 )
Currently Iraq has no way out of chaos. Rather the contrary. Everyday seems to bring even more confusion and sense of tragedy: militia fights, jail abuses, terrorists attacks, bitter rivalries within the US government, soaring human and financial costs linked to the US occupation, lack of leadership and vision, collapse of the ‘coalition of willing’, … That’s what I wrote on May 17th. Let’s keep on reading what I wrote then because it seems to be more relevant today than ever (and will still be after the next US elections in November)...
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- USA 2004: the sickman of world’s emocracies?(05/11/2004) While I was looking at the huge queues outside polling stations on November 2nd, I wondered about two very simple facts: how many Europeans would have left such queues, refusing to wait for 2, 3, 4, or even 7 hours (like in some places in Ohio) for casting their votes? How many Europeans will the next day take the street to denounce such a flaw within the electoral process?
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- The Muslim world couldn’t care less about the EU taking Turkey or not (07/12/2004 )
Contrary to what promoters of Turkey’s entry in the EU, short of arguments, repeat, this decision would not improve the relations between the EU and the Muslim world; in fact it would probably deteriorate them...
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- Upon whom will the ashes of Baghdad fall down? (17/03/2003 )
In April 2000 in Atlanta, I told a US audience of experts on Transatlantic relations gathered for the 'Transatlantic 2020' conference, that in the coming years the US would 'land in history' as they would painfully experiment the fact they could no longer ignore the weight of the rest of the world on their own decisions, contrary to what they could afford doing in most of their past history. The past two years seem to have tragically proved this analysis true...
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- Middle East 2020 : the region which needs two “dreams” (12/03/2004 )
Two years ago, at the first Miami Transatlantic Week, participants and speakers from two sides of the Atlantic declared that it was time for both European and American civil societies to help Arabs and Israelis to build up a peaceful and democratic Middle East.Two years ago, at the first Miami Transatlantic Week, participants and speakers from two sides of the Atlantic declared that it was time for both European and American civil societies to help Arabs and Israelis to build up a peaceful and democratic Middle East..
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- If I was a Turkish leader, what would I tell my people about the future of our relations with the EU? (13/10/2004 )
An artificial exercise, you tell me, because I am not a Turk! In part you would be right, but it is an exercise that I have realized a number of times in Turkey, as part of several conferences. With hope of proving wrong the Turkish proverb "the wise man does not say what he knows, the buffoon knows not what he says," the following is what I would tell my people if I was a Turkish leader...
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- The collapse of international education in the USA : a direct threat to future Transatlantic relations (25/05/2004 )
'There is no great leader if he is not able to provide good education to his community. There is no great 21st century leader if he is not able to provide good international education to his community.’
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- Washington and Brussels are from the Moon… (24/06/2003)
… though of course they do not come from the same side of the Moon!
This is something I learned in past years and it seems to me that the Iraq crisis illustrated it. Washington comes from the bright side of the Moon and shines all over the world under global media spotlights; while Brussels, coming from the dark side of the Moon, is pretty much invisible to everybody, including European citizens...
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- Seven key questions for Transatlantic Leaders and Citizens about future EU/USA relations (21/12/2004 )
At a time when the ‘usual’ Transatlantic relation inherited from World war II is every day becoming more obsolete than the day before, it is time for both leaders and citizens of both sides of the Atlantic to ask themselves a few questions...
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- Two examples of new EU security interests linked with the next US elections (27/09/2004)
Contrarily to most European comments on the topic of the US November 2004 elections, in this article I will point out a few key EU interests which are not dependent upon the election’s results. Whoever wins the presidency, be it Kerry or Bush, the EU should be prepared to act by contributing to secure a smooth US election process and, should things go awry, in preventing a global economic and financial crisis...
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