What does the Eurozone crisis mean for the future of Europe? In an interview with EUROPP’s Managing Editor Stuart Brown, Anthony Giddens discusses the content of his new book, Turbulent and Mighty Continent: What Future for Europe? He
outlines the structural factors underpinning the crisis, the benefits
of EU membership, and why maintaining the European social model as a
social investment state is of crucial importance for European countries.
"Europe
has become a community of fate in another sense, which is that for the
first time we have a European public and political space. In every
European country, European issues are now covered extensively in the
media. I was amazed at the amount of coverage given in the UK to Angela
Merkel’s re-election. You would never have found that previously, and
that’s recognition that we’re all in this together, even if many in the
UK want us to leave the European Union."
"So
for me, as a pro-European, the key issue is whether we can make this
negative public space more of a positive one. For this reason, I feel
that pro-Europeans should state their case and network across Europe in
the run up to the 2014 European elections. We should not let the
populists and the Eurosceptics dominate the debate politically, or
emotionally."
