2014_05_2014_ICS_It is difficult to maintain economic union in the EU without the commitment and solidarity inherent in a political union.
2014_05_2014_ICS_Es difícil mantener la unión económica en la UE sin el compromiso y la solidaridad propias de una unión política
"It is difficult to maintain economic union in the EU without the commitment and solidarity of a political union."
Emma Cohen de Lara (University of Amsterdam) stated that "citizenship implies not only the acceptance of rights and duties, but also the development of emotional ties".
"The problem of European citizenship is important. It is very difficult to maintain an economic union without the commitment and solidarity of a political union". So said Emma Cohen de Lara, professor at the University of Navarra, professor of the University of Amsterdamat the framework of the congress 'The ethics of citizenship in the 21st century', organized by the project 'Religion and Civil Society' of the Institute for Culture and Society (ICS) today and tomorrow.
According to Professor Cohen de Lara, the "discrepancy between these two ideals" has become even more evident during the crisis: "Many European countries are experiencing economic stagnation and this encourages political rejection of the EU. In the 25M elections, support for Eurosceptics has grown: if the results serve to clarify and consolidate the political status of the Union, the development of European citizenship will be strengthened".
The expert from the University of Amsterdam emphasized the importance of the affective dimension in a political community. "Liberalism tends to define citizenship as a specific set of rights and duties articulated by the state. However, this vision only captures part of what it means to be a citizen: it is not only about accepting those rights and duties, but also involves the development of emotional ties to the community," she said.
World political community
He also referred to the concept of citizenship in today's world. "The process of globalization implies a growing mobility of people and goods and also more levels of change in governments. All this undermines the nation-state as a stable provider of citizens' rights and duties and generates insecurity. The reaction of many countries to this is to cling to the nation as an identity source ," he added.
Some experts," he said, "argue that there is a world political community and, consequently, that global citizenship is possible. However, when it comes to defining its content and its internship we are often left with the idea that it is limited."
Emma Cohen de Lara is one of the speakers at congress 'The ethics of citizenship in the 21st century', which brings together some thirty experts from academic centers in the Netherlands, USA, Italy, New Zealand and Spain, such as Harvard University and the Catholic University of Sacro Cuore.