Best way for Europe to come together

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/10/best-way-for-europe-to-come-together

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Rafael Behr’s account (Opinion, 9 December) of the rise of rightwing nationalists in Europe is deeply chilling. Leaders of vicious anti-EU and xenophobic parties from across our continent have wasted no time in lashing out at multiculturalism in the wake of the atrocities in Paris – offering the mythical security of isolation in the face of a changing and at times scary world. But those of us who believe in the European Union, and in a multicultural society, must not shrink from the challenge posed by the Farages and Le Pens of this world. Indeed pro-Europeans should grasp the fact that the EU is itself a counterweight to the scaremongering of the populist right.

The case for the EU is strong – but it won’t be won by technocrats or Europhiles. Like any governing body, the EU does some things right – it makes us safer by allowing police forces to work together, it protects our rights at work, it safeguards our environment. But it also does things wrong: it’s not as accountable as it should, for example. Those of us who believe in the EU should fight with equal passion for its existence and for reforming it to make it better.

Just as the nationalists are working together across borders to further their cause, pro-Europeans should now be doing the same. In this ever-changing world we should seek the reassurance of solidarity with our neighbours, rather than plough a lonely furrow and attempt to cut ourselves off from the world. The case for a Europe where we work across borders is there to be made – we’ve just got to get on and make it.Caroline Lucas MPGreen, Brighton Pavilion

• Polly Toynbee may be correct to see “our roots” lying in a common European culture (Opinion, 8 December), but so what? That common European culture never included a common European state. Indeed, it rejected the idea whenever it was proposed, by Charles V, Louis XIV, Napoleon, the Kaiser or Hitler. The EU is just the latest attempt to merge the national cultures of Europe into an artificial superstate and as such it is bound to fail. Europe is a state system not a state. Ms Toynbee should study its history. Alan SkedProfessor of international history, LSE

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