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Mitterrand, Let us stress the importance of multilingualism

Em. Macron, Rediscovering the Path to Europe

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Let us make no mistake: markets are no more than instruments, no more than mechanisms which are all too often governed by the law of the strongest, mechanisms which can lead to injustice, exclusion and dependence, unless the necessary counterweight is provided by those who can assert their democratic legitimacy. Alongside the markets, there is room for economic and social activities based on the concepts of solidarity, cooperation, partnership, reciprocity and the common interest - in short, public services. So far, we have drawn the outline of a social Europe, but it has no content. And will it not be an exciting, exhilarating venture to provide that content? Will it not be the task of the coming months and years? At that point, I shall be observing the social progress made from the outside and I shall rejoice whenever I see all Europe's leaders coming together - leaving behind their natural divisions and differences of opinion - to ensure that the Europe which is being built does not simply resemble a mechanical or Meccano toy, but is the potent work of men and women who are capable of shaping their own destiny. At present, there are some difficulties, but I hope that in collaboration with the social partners, we shall succeed in taking initiatives in the areas of training, education, the organisation of labour, and the campaign against all forms of exclusion. Indeed, nothing will be possible unless the social partners take their rightful place in the process of European integration.

(Applause)

. . . Such a Europe, our Europe, must be embodied in something more than simply balance sheets and freight tonnages. I would go as far as to say, while not wishing to become too rhetorical, that it needs a soul, so that it can give expression - and let us use more modest language here - to its culture, its ways of thinking, the intellectual make-up of its peoples, the fruits of the centuries of civilisation of which we are the heirs. The expressions of Europe's many forms of genius are rich and diverse; and, as in the past, we must share with the whole world - while not seeking to impose them, somewhat differently from in the past - our ideas, our dreams and, to the extent that they are of the right kind, our passions. In the GATT negotiations, a year ago, the principle of cultural exception was upheld. This is the idea that works of the intellect are not simply goods like any others. It stems from the belief that the cultural identity of our nations, the right of each people to develop its own culture, is in jeopardy. It embodies the will to defend freedom and diversity for all countries, to refuse to cede the means of representation - in other words, the means of asserting one's identity - to others.

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      Cf.  Proudhon, Principe Fédératif * Le mémorandum d'Alexis Leger * The Briand Memorandum * Kalergi, European Spirit must Precede Europe's Political Unification * La Construction de l'Europe selon Jean Monnet * Plan Fouchet * L'Union Européenne selon Altiero Spinelli * Mitterrand and Kohl urge European Political Union * Il Manifesto di Ventotene

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