Europe and the EU

The tenth «Soul of Europe» Conference took place in Brussels this year, right in the middle of the eu Institutions. It was held from 21 to 23 August and attracted 150 participants.

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For years the annual «Soul of Europe» conference was held in Eastern European countries. Now the impulse has acquired something of a pendulum gesture: from Tbilisi (Georgia) in 2018 via Brussels (Belgium) this year, it will be held in Yekaterinburg (Russia) in 2020 and likely move to London in 2021.

The participants received an impressive insight into the European Union’s functioning, its institutions and problems. Mario Damen conducted a tour of the European Parliament, explaining its processes and the various organs, finishing in the parliamentary chamber itself, with space for its over 700 MEPs and countless interpreters.

Gerald Häfner and Paul Mackay pointed towards shortcomings and inadequate structures: the EU is steered by bodies formed by national governments, without much influence by citizens. Civil society carries little weight, large lobbying organisations exert a lot of power. Monetary institutions don’t contribute to a healthy social life. During the conference, however, Alexander Gerber and Michaela Glöckler were able to point to certain successes of their professional lobbying work on behalf of biodynamic agriculture and anthroposophic medicine.

Europe is more than just the EU

Europe is often identified with the EU. But the EU is not Europe. Europe crucially also contains Switzerland and Norway, Russia and the Ukraine.

The contributors of the conference focused on the «soul» of Europe. Some of the leading thoughts included those of Christine Gruwez (BE) who said that Europe was not found in its institutions, nor was it an idea – it lies where the two aspects meet, where forms unite with future potential. Andrei Zhiltsov (UKR) described how European structures become comprehensible in the light of a long spiritual history. Christiane Haid (Goetheanum) addressed homelessness and the consciousness soul. Stephan Kirste (DE) and Jaap Sijmons (NL) offered philosophical approaches towards developing a European consciousness.

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