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On the evening of 7 May, Emmanuel Macron walked, almost marched, slowly across the courtyard of the Louvre to make his first speech as the President elect of the French Fifth Republic. He did so not, as others would have done, to the music of the Marseillaise but to the final movement of Beethovens Ninth Symphony the Ode to Joy, the anthem of the European Union. It was, wrote Natalie Nougayrde in the Guardian, the most meaningful, inspiring symbol Macron could choose.

The gesture, and the speeches which have followed, have been ringing endorsements of the Union and all that it stands for: tolerance, trans-national justice, open borders, free trade, increased opportunities, personal economic, cultural and political for all. In a word: internationalism. Since his election Macron has been speaking not only to and for a large sector of the French people; he has been speaking for and to both Europe and as he made clear the world. Europe and the world, he declared, are waiting for us to defend the spirit of the Enlightenment. His victory is the latest in series of defeats for the populist parties of the far right in Europe.

This is a reason to rejoice, but it is no cause for complacency. Brexit has not, as many hoped it might, been overturned, and Donald Trump has yet to be impeached. Marine Le Pen lost massively; but she still made substantial gains. Geert Wilders, the populist, with the dyed blond quiff, won fewer votes than expected in the Netherlands in March; but he is still better placed that he was before the elections. So too are a handful of other smaller parties with similar views. The Alternative for Germany has not been doing well in past few months, but neither has it disappeared. With Viktor Orbn firmly entrenched in Hungary, and elections due in Italy before next spring in which, according to recent polls, the Five-Star Movement could win over 32% of the vote placing it ahead of any of the major parties Europe is still in urgent need of defense.

The EU is the outcome of a long, slow process which took its modern form in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the term international was coined by Jeremy Bentham in 1789 of the possibility of an international rule of law, and of the trans-national agencies and courts to uphold it.

The problem with international law, however, is that, by its very nature, it demands at a least a re-evaluation, if not an outright rejection, of what has been ever since the seventeenth century one of the foundations of the modern state: sovereignty. The power of the sovereign be it a monarch or a popular assembly wrote Thomas Hobbes is to prescribe the Rules of discerning Good and Evil and therefore in him is the Legislative Power. It was crucial, that that power should be what he called incommunicable and inseparable, by which he meant that it could not be divided nor shared with any other sovereign. This is the legal basis on which the modern nation state, constructed along what has come to be known as the Westphalian model, has been based. But while indivisibility operates well enough within individual states, it cannot, as another Englishman, the great jurist Henry Sumner Maine, wrote in 1888, belong to International Law. International law is based upon treaties, and the power to enforce those treaties can only ever be divided up among the nations which agree to abide by them. (The example Maine gave, paradoxically in the light of Brexit, was the British relationship with the Indian princely states.) Without divided sovereignty no international law can exist. It is one of the basic marks of western civilization.

European Union Law is an inter-national law, and it governs what all the member states share in common and, like all international law it assumes priority over any conflicting laws enacted by individual member states. The penal code, family and labor laws, the laws governing succession, inheritance and marriage, property and taxation indeed all those laws which govern the daily life of the citizens of Europe are all matters for domestic not EU law, so long as they conform to EU and international norms. Of course, dividing sovereignty inevitably means relinquishing some part of it, most contentiously, in the case of the EU, the right to close your borders against those with whom you are dividing it. But as the Greeks discovered at Salamis in 480 BCE, and Europeans have discovered time and time again over the centuries ever since, cooperation generally brings far more benefits that it does losses.

To be willing to divide sovereignty in this way, however, demands that you trust in and are prepared to work with those with whom you divide it, and this means sharing their same basic political, social, ethical and legal values. The European project, which Macron described as our civilization and our common enterprises and our hopes is nothing if not a grand exercise in sharing: sovereignty, administrative responsibilities, educational and cultural goals, citizenship and of course each others populations. And that, in turn, means trusting in what it can achieve. So far, for all its difficulties it has not let us down. The continent has been at peace now for over seventy years the longest period in its entire history. For all the populist talk of forgotten ones, for all the justifiable fear of terrorism, its peoples live better, safer, more just and more equitable lives than they have ever done. Of course the EU is in need of reform. The power of the parliament, needs to be extended, and so, too, does the reach of the ECJ. European citizenship needs to be more clearly defined and strengthened. The Euro-zone requires a proper common budget something already on Macrons agenda. Military dependence on an unpredictable United States should be reduced and the long dormant plan for a European Defense Force revived. Above all perhaps the nature of the European project, its demands and its benefits, need to be better explained. A massive ignorance as to what Europe is has already robbed future generations of one European nation of a brighter future. Everything should now be done to prevent any of the others from going the same way.

The forces of populism and obscurantism may have been defeated; but they have not been annihilated. At the moment it would seem to be up to France to lead the way. En marche!

Featured image credit: Emmanuel Macron at Sommet co franco-chinois by Pablo Tupin-Noriega. CC0 Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

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En Marche: Macron's France and the European Union - OUPblog (blog)

The European Union has urged Azerbaijan to release detained opposition figures, in an apparent reference to the alleged abduction and arrest of a journalist critical of Baku and the detention of an opposition politician.

The statement on June 4 did not mention names but came after journalist Afqan Muxtarli was kidnapped in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, on May 29 and the arrest of opposition politician Gozal Bayramli.

On June 3, the U.S. State Department said the "United States is disturbed by the reported abduction in Tbilisi, Georgia, and subsequent arrest in Azerbaijan" of Muxtarli. It said it was "troubled" by the detention of Bayramli.

The EU statement said "a review by Azerbaijan of any and all cases of incarceration related to the exercise of fundamental rights, including the freedom of expression, and immediate release [of] all of those concerned is urgent.

"We expect that the due process of law is respected, as well as the civil and political rights of citizens and those residing legally in states other than their own," it added.

Muxtarli, 43, was jailed last week for a preliminary three months by an Azerbaijani court.

His attorney, Elcin Sadyqov, told RFE/RL his client was abducted in Tbilisi on May 29, tied up in a car, beaten by men in civilian clothing who spoke Georgian, and brought across the border into Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijani Prosecutor-General's Office spokesman Eldar Sultanov said on May 31 that Muxtarli was detained on suspicion of illegally crossing the border, and alleged that he was in possession of a large amount of cash.

The EU said it welcomed the Georgian government's announcement that it would investigate the alleged kidnapping. Tbilisi denies it was involved in the case.

Muxtarli and his wife fled to Georgia in 2015, fearing for their safety over his investigations into Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's alleged links to corruption.

Bayramli, the deputy chief of the opposition Popular Front Party (AXCP), was arrested on May 25 after she crossed the border from Georgia into Azerbaijan, her party chairman said.

Read the rest here:
EU Urges Azerbaijan To Release Detained Opposition Figures - RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty

LONDON Nearly a year after Britain voted 52 percent to 48 percent to withdraw from the European Union, those on the pro-E.U. side still think that the idea of leaving the bloc registers somewhere between doltish and disastrous. The Remainers have notenthusiastically embraced the winning side. They are not born-again Brexiteers.

But they are not coalescing around a single party ahead of BritainsJune8 election. Instead, theyre splitting their support several ways, with a sizable faction even supporting the Remainer-turned-Brexiteer prime minister, Theresa May. Those who backed Brexit, by contrast, are flocking to the Conservatives.

As a result, the Remainers are the invisible man in this election, underscoring just how much May has altered the political landscape since coming to office last summer in the wake of the Brexit vote. The failure of the 48percent to unify is one of the main reasons May remains on course for victory, even as her Conservative Party slips in the polls.

[For Britains populist right, Brexit success comes with a poison pill]

Remain voters still think that leaving the E.U. is by and large a daft idea, saidMarcus Roberts, director of international projects at the YouGov polling agency. But he said the splintering can be explained in part by the original Brexit tribes of Leavers and Remainers having morphed into new categories: those who back their sides even more strongly and those who have flipped to the Brexit camp, which he calls Re-Leavers.

He said that nearly half of those who voted to remain in the E.U. the Re-Leavers now just want to make the best of an undesirable situation. For some, that means voting for the Conservatives, whose leader has signaled a hard break with Europe but is viewed by many voters as the best person to negotiate the upcoming divorce talks with the E.U.

It is very British to get on with it and make do with the situation, said Roberts, who noted that May herself was a Remainer but quickly shifted gears after her side lost the referendum.

Theresa May, you could say, was the first Re-Leaver, the first person to grasp the fundamental truth of the British character: After a big event has happened, we dont as a culture re-litigate that event. We try to move on and make the best we can, he said.

[A song that calls Britains Theresa May a liar is climbing the charts but it isnt being played on the radio]

The fragmenting of the Remainer vote can be seen vividly on the streets of Londons Vauxhall district, one of the most ardently pro-E.U. areas of the country. Here, voters should in theory be attracted to the Liberal Democrats, the centrist party that is campaigning to try to blunt the impact of Mays plans for ahard break with Europe.

But instead, the clear front-runner in the pro-Remain Vauxhall is a pro-Leave lawmaker who campaigned alongside arch-Brexiteer Nigel Farage. Kate Hoey, 70, is an independent-minded member of the Labour Party. Unlike her party which has adopted a fudged position on Brexit Hoey is an outspoken E.U. skeptic.

Why did you vote to leave? demanded Shola, 25, a Remainer who gave only his first name and on a recent day confronted Hoey at a bustling community center where she was campaigning.

Were a wonderful country. We didnt need to be part of a little mafia, Hoey replied as she launched into an argument about how Britain was on the brink of regaining its freedom and would soon be able to cast off the shackles of Brussels. By the time Hoey was done, her interlocutor said hed vote for her as he did in the last election.

[Manchester suicide bomber may have largely acted alone, police say]

A lot of Remainers have accepted that were going to leave and are now asking: How do we make it work? Hoey said. Isnt it better to have somebody who supported the project of leaving, because Ill look silly if the whole thing is a disaster.

Sitting south of the River Thames, Londons Vauxhall is a mixed place, where crowded apartment blocks rub up against multimillion-dollar Georgian homes facing pretty garden squares. The area, which has a large immigrant community, voted 78percent to remain in the E.U.

The pro-Remain Liberal Democrats are trying to capitalize on the Brexit issue, especially in areas like this, and they hope that this election marks their comeback. It is the only major party to pledge to give voters the chance to reverse Brexit with a second referendum. And if Britain does leave, the Liberal Democratswant minimal disruption.

If were going to leave the European Union, surely it should be the softest of all Brexits, Tim Farron, the partys leader, said in an interview. We should stay in the single market. That means wed have the best opportunity to be a place where Americans could invest, people around the world can invest.

[May and Corbyn trade barbs in run-up to British election]

In some areas where people voted overwhelmingly to stay in the bloc, including university towns such as Cambridge, the Liberal Democrats may emerge victorious.But nationwide, its tough going, as polls show that referendum voting doesnt necessarily predict election voting.

The Remainers will probably bleed back to peoples party loyalties in the previous general election, said Tim Bale, a professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London.

The Liberal Democrats were all but wiped out in the 2015 election as voters punished the party for joining in a coalition with the Conservatives and reversing its pledge not to increase university tuition fees. The latest polls a recent YouGov survey showed Conservatives with42percent support, Labour with 39percent and the Liberal Democrats with 7 percent suggest the party is still in the recovery ward.

But in some places, including Vauxhall, the Liberal Democrats hope they can deliver upsets by rallying the pro-E. U. spirit.

Brexit is the issue on the doorstep, said George Turner, 34, the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate in Vauxhall. Brexit is not a yes/no question. We need to have a big conversation about who we want to be as a country, and many are not comfortable with the vision put forward by the far right.

Turner conceded that he has a massive mountain to climb if he is to overturn Hoeys substantial majority but insists that this is the year when anything can happen.

While campaigning door-to-door recently, Turner quickly amassed names of voters who pledged their support, sometimes very quickly. When he knocked on the door of Brian Hogan, Turner explained that his main rival was hard-line pro-Brexit.

Thats all I need to know. Whats your name? You have my vote, said Hogan, 30, a project manager who lives on a street of closed shopfronts.

Hogan said that as an Irish citizen living in London, leaving the European Union is not theoretical for me but a real cause for concern. Its entirely possible that under a hard Brexit, I might not be able to live here in two years time.

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48 percent of Britain voted to stay in the EU last June. Where have they gone? - Washington Post

The teen declared the EU is a replica of the dictatorship of the Soviet Union but under a blue banner, as his audience applauded his speech.

The boy, Michal Cywinski, was speaking at a childrens parliamentary session, for childrens day, in Poland, this years topic: De-Communizing Public Spheres.

He blast: We find ourselves in the Sejm of the Polish Republic. In this place, where on a daily basis those who are responsible for our states functioning are in session.

We sit in the same place as the people who took us out from under the Soviet banner and put us under the blue banner of the European Union.

SG

They took us out from under the Soviet banner and put us under the blue banner of the European Union

Michal Cywinski

Under their dictatorship of political correctness, hundreds of people die, run over by trucks, blown up by explosives or are shot to death by extremists, who were imported by the leftist rabble in Brussels.

Today the communists are not red, todays communists are blue.

Furthermore, I believe that the European Union must be destroyed.

At this point, young Michal proceeds to hold aloft a print of the European Unions blue flag, before ripping it to shreds.

The teen received a raucous applause as he thanked his audience and left the speakers plinth.

Poland, as a country, remains eurosceptic with key government figures launching attacks on the blocs eurocrats.

The countrys foreign minister Witold Waszczykowski said he cannot accept the European Commisions authority as relations with the EU crumble.

He said: What is the legitimacy of the Commission? The Commission does not have democratic legitimacy. Its not elected, its selected by the governments.

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We cannot accept this. We cannot accept that a selected body of bureaucrats is monitoring and ordering and ruling the member states.

We can accept a federal Europe that is based on democratic rule.

The bloc hit back at Poland, with Commission spokesman Margaritas Chinas saying it regrets a government minister does no understand the Commission's role, structure and competences.

He added: The Commission is the guardian of the treaties, of common interests of the 28 member states, and of the rule of law.

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'The EU is the Soviet Union under a blue banner' Teen WRECKS EU flag in Polish parliament - Express.co.uk

BRUSSELS The European Union and China warned U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday he was making a major error by withdrawing from the Paris climate pact, but the pair failed to agree a formal climate statement because of divisions over trade.

Speaking alongside Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, the EU's Donald Tusk said efforts to reduce pollution and combat rising sea levels would now continue without the United States. But a spat on trade and steel production underscored the differences in a sometimes difficult EU-China relationship.

"We are convinced that yesterday's decision by the United States to leave the Paris agreement is a big mistake," Tusk, who chairs EU summits as the head of the European Council, told a news conference with Li and the EU's chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker.

"The fight against climate change, and all the research, innovation and technological progress it will bring, will continue, with or without the U.S.," Tusk said.

In their meeting, the three leaders committed to cutting back on fossil fuels, developing more green technology and helping raise funds to help poorer countries cut their emissions, but a dispute about trade ties scuppered plans for a formal joint statement.

Despite what officials described as a warm meeting, China and the European Union could not agree on a broader final communique meant to focus on a range of other issues discussed at the talks, including a commitment to free trade and measures needed to reduce a global steel glut.

The leaders' news conference was delayed for three hours as they sought to find agreement.

According to one person present at the summit, China's insistence on a reference that the European Union will eventually recognize China as an economy driven by the market, not the state, blocked the final 60-point statement.

That also meant there could be no agreement on a formal pledge to work together to reduce global steel production.

China's annual steel output is almost double the EU's total production and Western governments say Chinese steel exports have caused a global steel crisis.

That theme was an undercurrent of the day-long meeting. Before the formal EU-China summit got underway, Juncker referred at a business conference with Li to a World Bank report placing China 78th out of 190 countries in terms of the ease of doing business.

"A big economic powerhouse needs to be higher than mid-table," he said, adding that a planned EU-Chinese investment treaty needed to be completed to ensure reciprocal relations.

France, Germany and Italy have mooted the idea of allowing the EU to block Chinese investment in Europe, partly because European companies are denied similar access in China and because of risks of China acquiring prized European technology.

In reply, Li said China was working hard to promote a trade balance, with Chinese tourism to Europe now far greater than EU tourism in China. Foreign investment opportunities, he said, were far different from when China first opened up.

"I do hope you can put things into context. We find the problems, but we are working on them ... Our ranking is getting better," he said.

"NO REVERSE GEAR" ON CLIMATE

Trump's announcement on Thursday that he would take the United States out of the Paris accord, saying the agreement would undermine the U.S. economy and cost jobs, drew anger and condemnation from world leaders and heads of industry.

European Climate Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete told reporters in Brussels he deeply regretted the U.S. pullout from the pact to fight the dangers of global warming, which was signed by more than 190 countries, and said it could not be renegotiated as Trump has suggested [B5N1G8011].

"The agreement is fit for purpose. The Paris agreement is here to stay and the 29 articles of the Paris agreement are not to be renegotiated," he said after meeting his Chinese counterpart.

Juncker told the business conference on Friday that China and the EU recognized the need for international solutions and this was nowhere more important than full implementation of the Paris agreement.

"There is no reverse gear to energy transition. There is no backsliding on the Paris agreement," Juncker said.

China overtook the United States as the world's biggest emitter of greenhouse gases in 2007.

(Additional reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek; Editing by Andrew Bolton)

BERLIN/BRUSSELS China and Europe pledged on Friday to unite to save what German Chancellor Angela Merkel called "our Mother Earth", standing firmly against President Donald Trump's decision to take the United States out of the Paris climate change pact.

WASHINGTON The head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, said on Friday he believes human activity plays a role in global warming, but measuring that contribution with precision is difficult.

WASHINGTON The United States will continue its efforts to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions despite President Donald Trump's decision to leave the Paris climate accord, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Friday.

Link:
EU, China trade spat blocks climate statement - Reuters