[This editorial is also available in Ukrainian.]
This won't please everyone, but it's the truth. The European Union remains one of the strongest bulwarks against extremes.
The demagogic programmes presented during election campaigns in the Member States are generally not implemented because they are incompatible with membership of the European Union. Italy is the most recent example. Will it be France tomorrow?
Why is that?
The close ties woven between the Member States have as much to do with their sovereign interests as with the values they claim to share with Europeans.
The euro has prevented many financial deadlocks, and even devaluations; and while some regret it because it has allowed a certain degree of laxity, citizens have not paid the price. Common disciplines - the validity of which can sometimes be questioned - have kept European economies within reasonable bounds. What would have happened without the guarantee of the Central Bank and the common budgetary rules?
European law has been applied everywhere, albeit at the cost of the need for serious management of these commitments.
As far as values are concerned, there are no constraints, only national promises to respect the rule of law, the European Charter of Human Rights and the values set out in the European treaties, which the Member States have democratically ratified. Governments come and go, but Europe remains, with its body of legally secure commitments enshrined in national law. The Polish PiS and Viktor Orban's Hungarian Fidesz have been unable to pursue their sovereignist agenda because they have been reminded of what they voted for.
The European Union is not an à la carte menu. You either abide by the common rules or you leave. That was the choice made by the United Kingdom, which is now paying the bitter price.
The French election campaign, which is causing so much concern on the continent, should be seen in this light: the absurd promises we hear to spend even more to satisfy France's addiction to debt will not be implemented because the national interest will oppose them when the choice is between staying in Europe or leaving it.
And please don't say that this is undemocratic! It is exactly the opposite: It is a truly reasoned and united democracy that the continent has built together to avoid the mistakes of the past that led to collapse and conflict.
It has been a great advance in civilisation and a new stage in democracy. With reason, it can also be exercised outside a national framework. If the nationalists don't like it, they're a century too late!
