Reding’s sparkling conversation

Viviane Reding, the European commissioner for justice, fundamental rights and citizenship, was attending to the third part of her dossier – citizenship – last week (14 November).

She was in Marseille, in the south of France, taking part in what the European Commission terms “a citizens’ dialogue”.

She set out what might be described as a maximalist position: calling for an EU finance minister, an EU army and single embassies for all member states around the world, and added that she wants an EU intelligence service, to force the US to “treat us with respect and as equal partners”.

Reding did show some awareness that she was in a French city that has known better times, and suffers from a desperately high youth unemployment rate. “Europe has always needed France in order to make progress. Now France needs Europe if it is to maintain its position on the world stage,” she said.

The EU, she said, was making available €6 billion to fight youth unemployment – from which 300,000 people in France would benefit at a cost of €600 million over two years.

But Reding may have lost some of her audience when she declared: “Europe protects our national identities. It is thanks to the EU that the designation ‘Champagne’ can no longer be used in Switzerland. Only together can we safeguard our values and make them into the norm throughout the world.”

Sorry? So the EU beats up on a Swiss municipality called Champagne, to forbid it calling its wine ‘vin de Champagne’. And this counts as a protection of national identity? Was it for this that the Marseillaise was written? “Allons enfants de la Patrie/Le jour de gloire est arrivé!”

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