An European in the European Capital of Culture
Daniel Cohn-Bendit delivered the opening address at the “Beyond History” symposium in Linz’s Schlossmuseum. The committed European activist sketched the development of the European Union as a direct reaction to Europe’s agonizing past.In conjunction with the preparations for the Capital of Culture year, Linz09 is staging an intensive confrontation with the recent history of this city, a place that was once known as “The City of the Führer”. The “Beyond History” symposium, a project for Linz 2009 European Capital of Culture in cooperation with the Museums of the Province of Upper Austria, is bringing together scholars and experts to seek answers from actual everyday practice in other fields, many of which lie outside the realm of historiography.
The Beginning of the Unification Process
Prior to the start of unification in the wake of World War II, Europe was repeatedly the scene of bloody power struggles and efforts to achieve hegemony. Over the centuries, according to Cohn-Bendit, this was solely a matter of who could assert leadership in Europe. That’s the way it was in 1939, in 1914 and in 1871 as well. Finally, by 1945, Europe was reduced to rubble and no country could assert a claim to leadership. Then, a few insightful statesmen drew the appropriate lessons from the past and sought to put an end to this spiral of war and peace,” Cohn-Bendit said. The idea of European unification—initially on an economic level—was born, to a certain extent as Europe’s effort to come to terms with its own past.
Milestones along the Path to a United Europe
Cohn-Bendit took the audience on a memorable and entertaining excursion through 50 years of European history. His lively narrative spiced with anecdotes started with an account of how this half-century began—with the rapprochement between Germany and France. He discussed German unification, which was approved by the other states only in exchange for the decision in favor of a joint currency union. And war in the Balkans, when Europe was forced to learn that the EU is not just a project to overcome history, but rather is also part of a real, multilateral world and, as such, has a responsibility to live up to as well. Finally, he addressed current efforts to make Europe more ecological, more public-spirited and to enhance its political importance.
From Things Past to the Current State of Affairs
The outstanding achievement of European unification, according to Daniel Cohn-Bendit, is the fact that conflicts are no longer resolved on battlefields today but rather in discussions within democratically legitimate institutions. And that peoples and states pursuing divergent interests can come to terms with one another. Cohn-Bendit also addressed the critical voices that are so loud in Europe. That the EU is sluggish and out of touch with reality. That there’s a lot of bureaucracy and little European identity. “Europe is a voluntary feat of strength, a utopia that is coming true. This is a process. It’s taken us four centuries to develop nation-states, and European unification is just 50 years old. The children who are growing up today will be growing up with Europe. Looking to the future means strengthening Europe,” Cohn-Bendit said. And the applause he received certainly bore him out.
Brief Bio
Daniel Cohn-Bendit was one of the most prominent speakers during the revolutionary events of May 1968 in Paris. After being expelled from the country, he was a committed activist (together with Joschka Fischer) in the Sponti movement in Frankfurt. Since 1994, he has been a member of the European Parliament, and has served as co-president of the Green Faction since 2002. Cohn-Bendit has authored numerous books and hosted several TV shows. He runs on the Green Party ticket alternately in France and Germany. He now lives with his wife and son in Frankfurt’s Westend neighborhood.
