ROME, JUNE 19, 2005 (Zenit.org).- The European Union should engage in self-criticism, and avoid the spread of anti-Europeanism, says the latest issue of the review Civiltà Cattolica.
“The European Union, in need of strict self-critical reflection, must continue to be governed according to the norms of the existing treaties of Maastricht, Amsterdam, Lisbon and Nice,” stated the review in an editorial.
Drafts of the biweekly review are reviewed by the Vatican Secretariat of State before publication.
“After the French and Dutch referendums rejection of the draft of the European Constitutional Treaty, the European Union is wounded,” it said.
However, continued the review, “we are not faced with the death or dissolution of the European Union, despite the existing attitude of mistrust.”
“Above all, the anti-European syndrome must be avoided, which has been given a strong impulse in all the European countries by the no’s in France and the Netherlands,” said the review, adding that the spread of this phenomenon would be “suicide” on the part of Europe.
In regard to the European Union’s need to recover confidence, the editorial stated: “The European Union cannot and must not be dismantled, but must be helped to grow with patience and constancy, being founded on ethical values and on bases that most adhere to the European reality.”
