This text is an abridged version of a speech given at a conference on »New Perspectives for Europe« at the Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften, Goethe University (Frankfurt), in Bad Homburg (21 September 2018). It has been translated by David Gow and published by the online magazine Social Europe.

(Foto: Stefanie Wetzel)

The speech (abbreviated version, in English)
»I am invited to talk about New Perspectives on Europe, but new ones fail me, and the Trumpian decay afflicting even the core of Europe makes me seriously question my old perspectives. Certainly, the risks associated with a significantly changed state of the world have penetrated public awareness and have altered perspectives on Europe. They have also directed the broader public’s attention to the global context in which the countries of Europe have more or less unquestioningly felt at home so far. The perception has grown within public opinion throughout the nations of Europe that new challenges affect each and every country in the same way and therefore could best be overcome together. That strengthens, indeed, a diffuse wish for a politically effective Europe.«
Continue to read