Kristy Huffman’s Post

« Notre Europe est mortelle et elle peut mourir » 📢 7 years after the famous speech at the Sorbonne University, Emmanuel Macron is back at it again 🇪🇺   The French President set out today his main priorities for the future of Europe, to reach a powerful, prosperous and humanist Europe. In nearly two hours, he covered 22 key points, from democracy, defense, borders, investments, competition, simplification, trade, energy, agriculture, culture, science and equality.   In terms of defense, he invited other EU Member States to build a European defense initiative and supported the idea of a common European loan. He also called for the creation of a European cybersecurity and cyberdefense capability 🛡️   💶 Concerning the economy, he called to review the European growth model, especially compared to China and the US. He also demanded the end of a “complex Europe” to increase investments and better protect interests, notably to boost the development of key sectors such as new energies, AI, space and biotechnologies.   👏 His speech was welcomed by #german #chancellor Olaf Scholz who underlined that “Together, France and Germany want Europe to remain strong. Together we are moving the EU forward: politically and economically”.    To learn more about the speech, coline vazquez and Marius Bocquet have summarized the key announcements in La Tribune: https://bit.ly/3UyjWwn   👉 To watch the full speech: https://lnkd.in/eUCWR3xJ   💭 We would like to hear your reactions! What key aspects from Macron’s Sorbonne II speech stood out to you the most? 👇 #SorbonneII #Macron #FrenchPresident #Europe #EU #Speech

French President Emmanuel Macron is sending a different message on relations with China than we saw last year during his trip to Beijing. In an interview with La Tribune on the eve of a visit by China’s President Xi Jinping, Macron stresses the need for reciprocity, de-risking and the safeguarding of Europe’s national and economic security. He also acknowledges strategic differences with Germany, whom he suggests is stuck in an old way of thinking about China. This points to a higher degree of alignment between Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen than we saw a year ago, when she accompanied him on his trip to China (though there remain differences, notably on transatlantic relations). The fact that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz made his own trip to China weeks ago, sent very different messages (no mention of de-risking or economic security), and will not be in Paris tomorrow with Macron and von der Leyen when they sit down with Xi shows that he risks isolating Germany on China policy within Europe. Below are the most interesting China-related quotes from the paywalled Macron interview (https://lnkd.in/dZeNbBrT) Differences with Germany: “In the economic sphere, our position has been consistent: we want reciprocity in our relations and we want to take our economic security into account. In Europe, we are not unanimous on this subject because some actors still see China essentially as an export market. I am pushing for a reassessment of this because China is now generating overcapacities in many sectors and is exporting massively to Europe” De-risking and national security: “Let’s be clear, I am not proposing that we distance ourselves from China. But I do think that we need to do a better job of protecting our national security, our sovereignty, that we need to de-risk part of our supply chains and be much more realistic about defending our interests”

Call for contributions to conference at Université Grenoble Alpes, first week of December 2024, "The Council of Europe: How to move forward after 75 years? The past, present and future of an international organisation in its seventies", https://lnkd.in/ejYjQc87 Deadline for submission of proposals for contributions: 24 April The call for contributions notes that "the massive enlargement [of the 1990s] of the Council of Europe has had many far-reaching consequences for its functioning and working methods. It has also had an impact on the European Court of Human Rights, which has seen a huge increase in the number of cases brought before it. The resurgence of populism, authoritarianism and nationalism since the 2010s has once again forced the CoE to assess the effectiveness of its actions. The challenge is all the greater given the organisation's limited budget. This reflects a political disengagement on the part of its member states, which can also be seen in the fact that some of them no longer adhere to all European values and ostensibly refuse to implement CoE standards, including the rulings of the ECHR. In this context, the CoE has embarked on a major reform process, which is still ongoing. The armed aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine has once again changed the geopolitical context in Europe to such an extent that a fourth Summit of the CoE was held in Reykjavik (Iceland) in May 2023. To date, the CoE has not been able to overcome the many challenges that have tested its effectiveness and even its legitimacy. This may be explained by the Committee of Ministers’ attachment to consensus, even though member states are often divided. Another explanation may be the perhaps disproportionate weight given to geopolitical considerations. All this leads to a political timidity that can sometimes give the impression that member states rely too much on the EuCHR. However, the Court is not able to overcome structural challenges on its own. The aim of the workshop is to make a critical assessment of the Council of Europe's achievements and working methods, to analyse the main challenges it faces and to outline ways of addressing them..."

In a Multipolar Europe, does Russia have its place? The level of observation of this division is several decades and does not take into account short-term conflicts and events as well as the political regimes in place. The division of the world is done with a new vision, a systemic vision. During the Cold War, democracy was seen as a weapon against communist totalitarianism, representing a high point in Western history. Democratic values brought real freedoms, promoted extraordinary social progress and encouraged important scientific and technical discoveries. However, the West began to transform with the integration of developed countries, thus beginning the process of economic globalization and globalization of power. Two definitions of the West have been given for membership in Europe. The first appeals to civilizational identity which designates nations of European culture marked by Judeo-Christian monotheism and Greco-Latin thought. This definition can include both Russia and old Western Europe. The second definition, internationalist and non-identitarian, conceives the West as the set of liberal democracies adept at free trade, Atlanticism and human rights. According to this second definition, Russia is not considered Western since it continues to be perceived by many strategists from NATO and EU countries as an enemy, or in any case as outside the 'West. But now the West is transformed into an avant-garde and a testing ground for a project of global governance, perceived as the final stage in the evolution of humanity and liberal democracy. But the battle rages between the two Wests and whichever of the two prevails over the other will decide the evolution of the two models: that of the so-called identity West of Trump, Orban, Meloni and that of Atlanticism and of the wokism of Obama, Biden, Soros, Trudeau of the globalist West…..(the rest after the article in French) 📸 Consultez cette publication sur Facebook https://lnkd.in/et3E4KNu? #governance #multipolar #Europe #world #UN

Today, Macron gave another Sorbonne speech outlining his visions for Europe: Sorbonne 2.0. Key takeaways: 🇪🇺 "Power, prosperity, humanism" - these are the three keywords of the speech. European sovereignty remains the baseline. What was new was the sense of urgency ("Europe is mortal") and the call to act much faster - Macron described the next five to ten years as critical. ▶ On security, defence, and Europe's role in the world, Macron's proposals were not new: calls for more, and better, joint spending, including joint borrowing, underlining that France nuclear defence is integral part of European defence, and use of the term of a "European pillar in NATO" (which Macron uses since spring 2023). What's new: suggestion to create a European capacity for cybersecurity and cyber-defence, and invitation to partners to work on a “European defence initiative” to set out a European defence strategy, and based on this determine which systems should be prioritised. 📈 "Prosperity Pact": in light of a world where "the two first economic powers do not respect the rules anymore", Macron calls for more industrial policy, investment in five key sectors (AI, quantum computing, space, energy, agriculture), and a European preference in certain sectors. 🇫🇷French domestic context mattered: although the speech might get more attention in other European capitals than by French voters, the parts on migration (calls for stricter border controls) and trade (important for "exports of French cheese", sic) clearly cater a domestic audience - at a time where the Rassemblement National leads the polls on EU elections by +14/15% ahead of Macron's party, and when the French senate just rejected the ratification of the CETA agreement between the EU and Canada. My full readout of the speech: https://lnkd.in/eX55tMfa Full speech (in French) on Youtube: https://lnkd.in/egeGhNuv

An in-depth analysis reveals that the decline of Western supremacy is the result of a series of strategic failures and weakening on multiple fronts: material, moral, and diplomatic. This is compounded by a refusal to reform unbalanced international institutions and clumsy attempts to counter the strategic rivals of the United States. Furthermore, Europe, having been an "American dominion" for 80 years, is at a crucial crossroads, facing the decision whether to remain tied to the declining American empire and whether it can assert its strategic, diplomatic, and cultural autonomy to protect its interests. The question is whether Europeans can overcome their loss of identity to refuse to suffer the consequences of the United States' fall and if they are capable of asserting a new existence based on the moral principles emerging from their own ruins. In the United States, the lack of willingness to accept and adapt to change indicates a deep psychological problem: if Americans see themselves only as dominant by divine right, how can they accept a reality where they coexist with others instead of ruling over them? This inability to accept raises the question of the extent of their potential fall. In summary, while the concept of a unified "West" seems to waver, this debate raises the question of whether this idea was ever a tangible reality.

The Second episode of #lespetiteshistoireseuropeennes is now available. 🌟 In this latest installment, we go once again back to the basics, into the heart of the European Union’s principles, focusing on values that stands as the cornerstone of our collective identity: Freedom and Democracy. 🕊️ Tune in to discover why freedom and democracy are not just values, but the very essence of the European Union. #EUValues #Freedom #Democracy #EuropeanUnion #EUCommission #EUParliament #TheLouiseCompany https://lnkd.in/eJBPkJZW

With at least 9 candidates recognized for a potential future enlargement of the EU, interesting conference on May 3rd to reflect, 20 years on, on the paradigm shift caused by the last major enlargement in 2004. Hopefully, some interesting insights for Language Services professionals as to how we can ancipate and plan for the future.

In Portugal by 25th of April 2024 we proudly celebrated 50 years of the Carnation Revolution. The President of France message «The 25th of April 1974 marked the end of the oldest dictatorship in Western Europe, the beginning of the last stage of decolonization on the African continent and also Portugal’s journey towards the European Union. The Captains of April gave hope to the Portuguese in favour of peace and democracy. Today’s Europe owes much to their courage. Since the 1950’s and 60’s, hundreds of thousands of Portuguese have been driven into exile by poverty, by a systematic violation of their human rights, by an arbitrary, cruel political repression and by their refusal to participate in this system and these unjust wars. The song “Grândola, Vila Morena” written by Zeca Afonso in France in 1971 continues to be a hymn to freedom all over the world. We think of the ‘Três Marias – Maria Teresa Horta, Maria Isabel Barreno, Maria Velho da Costa’ whose fight for the rights of women oppressed by the dictatorship received immense support around the world, foreshadowing the 25th of April. …» Always FREEDOM. Always DEMOCRACY. #smallisbeautiful #democracy #freedom #25thofApril #humansrights