IN March, the European Union marked its creation 60 years ago in Rome, in muted festivity.
After seven decades of peace and prosperity, the 28-member bloc is today bewildered with “Brexit” and “Frexit”, Britain’s and France’s exits from the Union, respectively; the immigration crisis; joblessness; and US President Donald J. Trump’s negative views of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
(Author’s note: Days after the EU anniversary, France had elected its new president, Emmanuel Macron, who is pro-EU, defeating far-rightist opponent Marie Le Pen.)
There were days of wrangling about the wording of a 1,000-word Rome Declaration, UK’s Prime Minister Theresa May’s impending Brexit confirmation, and tens of thousands of protesters gathering beyond the tight police cordon around the Campidoglio Palace (the Italian site of the celebration), which offered a more sober reminder of the challenges of holding the 28 nations to a common course.
Noting the Britons’ repudiation of the EU, Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni said the failure to push the project forward during a decade of economic slump had fueled a reemergence of “blinkered nationalism”. Rome offered a fresh start by saying, “The Union is starting again…and has a vision for the next 10 years.”
In the Philippines, EU Ambassador Franz Jessen celebrated the event by honoring Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Secretary Jesus Dureza with an Award of Distinction—the first Filipino official to have received such an award from the EU delegation in the Philippines. He described Dureza as a “peace advocate, peace builder and development champion” for his contributions to strengthen relations between the EU and the country.
For the first time, the EU ambassador invited select members of the media at his residence in Forbes Park. “It [is] important for you to see how the EU lives,” he said, treating the selected guests—who were probably expecting rice and viand—to a lunch of various tasty hors d’oeuvres, or, to the locals, finger food.
Jessen, who has been in the country for the last 18 months, explained to the BusinessMirror the EU’s current projects, which runs the gamut of immigration, job creation, peace and order, human rights, children and youth’s welfare, as well as trade and economic activities, among others.
He recalls the many projects the EU had done for the Philippines during the last 47 years of its existence here, and the many commitments they have extended to achieve peace, security and economic empowerment for the poor in our neck of the woods.
By way of background, the EU was set up with the aim of ending the frequent and bloody wars between neighbors going on for thousands of years. For the last century alone, there were at least 162 battles among neighboring states, aside from the First World War—also known as “The War to End All Wars”— which culminated in the Second World War.
“There is no point looking back in time, like how the world was 50 or 100 years ago. What we should be doing, and what we are doing, is to look forward [and] try to see how we get [to create] the best world together, with our partners around the world,” Jessen explained.
He tried to impress to those present by saying, “I think what I would like to see in all of these discussions about change and doing things differently, is that we also remember, ‘How did we get to where we are, and used that positive experience also moving forward.’”
“At the end of the day, the world today is a better place than it used to be and I said, ‘This does not come by itself, how we get here.’”
“When I mention European foreign direct investments (FDI), that does not come by itself. It is through the interaction between Philippine authorities and Filipino businessmen and [their] European [counterparts]. That has to be maintained, so that aspect can continue to grow,” he added.
Jessen pointed out that the Philippines, being an original founder of the UN more than 70 years ago, should continue to develop that spirit of independence, “and that is where I see where [your country] is going.”
His piece of advice is to “take the best experiences of the past, and move forward with an open view of the future. Reconcile the desire and the need for change, and also remember how we got to the good points where we are in many places today.”
As a seasoned diplomat, he could not be baited by this reporter to answer who is the biggest threat to world peace today: whether it is North Korea’s mercurial leader Kim Jong Un, or the US’s impulsive president Trump.
“I am not prepared to think [of a worst-case scenario] if war should happen. I see Europe as a stabilizing force; certainly within Europe, there is no question about that.”
He said one of the many issues the EU is facing is the migration crisis, or the refugee crisis. It began in 2015 when millions of people arrived illegally in the EU as they traveled across the Mediterranean Sea or overland through Southeast Europe.
These people included a small number of hostile agents, including Islamic State militants. The migrants came mostly from Muslim-majority countries from regions south and east of Europe, including western Asia, southern Asia, and Africa.
“It is not the Europeans themselves that created the issue; it is of the countries around Europe, going through difficult crises. Some of them, or many of the people living outside Europe, are trying to get into the continent to secure for them and for their families a better life,” Jessen explained.
“In a sense, these issues happened because Europe is an attractive place to be in,” he proudly announced.
An evolving Europe
THE EU ambassador said the election in France should be no secret. “The new president of France is very pro-European and working for the EU. It was fine to see [that] French voters overwhelmingly voted for him.”
He hopes Macron would give a new momentum; “a new energy, just like what we have with your president”.
“I am very proud of it: We have had now 70 years of peace and stability in Europe. People take that for granted. I think this is nothing special, but if you go back to my grandfather’s generation, you know, each generation in Europe at that time expected to be in a war.”
“And now, 70 years of peace!” as he almost seemed to gloat at the experience.
“It is not something that came by itself. That has been developed through the structure and the cooperation of EU member-states. That is why it is very close to my heart, and sometimes, we are too quick to forget it. Some say it is all history and forget about it; I think we cannot afford that. We should not ignore the cost of war in terms of human suffering. Sometimes, we take that a little bit for granted,” the envoy mused.
According to Jessen, “The EU is doing a lot to preserve that situation. That, for me, is very clear: the global agenda. Even here in the Philippines, we try to support the peace process [here].”
When asked how to further increase trade between the Philippines and the EU, Jessen said: “I tell them, ‘look west, visit Europe and see our technologies’.”
The reference to the “west” was apparently Jessen’s way of saying that Filipinos, in general, have an obsession with the US.
“I say it is very important to find out the EU’s new strategies and new vision, so I think the more visits we have from the economic sector, the better,” Jessen surmised.
He pointed out the EU-Philippine trade has doubled in the last five years to €13 billion, while the union is, by far, the largest investor in the country with €1.75 billion—37 percent in total FDI in 2015.
The latest figures stated at $901 million, the EU was the largest destination of exports from the Philippines in March this year, as reported by the Philippines Statistics Authority (PSA).
The EU has overtaken the US and Japan in the said month. Over the first quarter, Philippine exports to the EU were 15.5 percent of total exports of the country—a growth of 48.3 percent. This made the EU the biggest, and by far, the fastest-growing export market for Philippine goods.
The PSA said the growth was triggered by a number of factors, not the least by the strong growth of and demand in the EU economy at 1.9 percent, and an uptake of exports of the agri-food sector (overall growth of exports of 33.6 percent). These were supported by the EU’s generous Generalized System of Preferences trade benefits.
From 2017 to 2020 he said the EU has earmarked €350 million for their projects in the Philippines. “We have [a] limited number of projects, so the impact could be more substantial,” he noted.
Jessen said, “This seems to confirm messages I hear in the country of increasing production and EU demand in manufacturing and agri-food products. The EU’s trade agenda is one of fair trade and of leaving nobody behind. Even though statistics are indications, these figures surely help the Philippines achieve its inclusive growth agenda.”
“I also would like to mention that the EU has created about half-a-million jobs through the private sector.”
Jessen said there is a renewed interest in the Philippines from the European side, noting recently, two embassies have been established in the country: Sweden and Hungary. “Poland has announced that they are also opening.”
Addressing issues
ASKED to comment on the country’s human-rights situation, especially in the light of President Duterte’s war on drugs that has resulted in the deaths of hundreds of mostly poor people, Jessen said the EU currently does not have a “dialogue” with the Philippines on the matter.
However, he pointed out: “We have a value-based approach on building relations with third-world countries. Human rights is one of them. You have seen from time to time that we talk to the Philippine government on those issues. We continue to do so.”
“Sometimes, the issues being presented are in black and white; but…one that the Philippines is doing right is on gender equality.”
On the other hand, Jessen said the EU, since 2009, through its European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights, has provided €3 million (P156 million), which has benefited children in many parts of the country.
On the issue of drugs, Jessen said they are looking at it as having these components: the criminal aspect, where many users commit crimes in order to procure drugs; and the health issues associated with addicts. “They should not be ignored, because these people need medical help.”
The third is the social issue, which is linked to poverty. “You need [to] give people hope and bring them back to normal life, in order for them not to go back to drug addiction.”
By example, he said European countries have a strong focus on preventing people to get into drugs and also in getting them out once they fall into that trap. “If they do, you [have to] get them out quickly.”
He said that in Europe, they treat drug addiction as a social issue, making sure drug addicts get out of the group where they should not be, getting them back to their families and securing jobs for them.
Jessen went further to say that even those who had been given the chance to once more lead a normal life after addiction would fall back into the same rut if they remain in the same social circle.
“The risk of falling back to the old habit is very high, so the cycle must be broken.”
The EU, he said, is happy with the development related to their health program. It has recently linked with the Department of Health to work on social issues “to try to see if we can create unusual cases in the Philippines, where people do not fall back into using drugs”.
On human rights, he said one of the EU’s main goals is to promote it both internally and around the world. “Human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights: these are the core values of the EU,” Jessens pointed out.
To achieve this, the bloc promotes economic and social progress, and helps people earn enough money and get treated fairly. It also speaks about the international scene, and the development of Europe as an area of freedom, security and justice by maintaining and building on established EU laws.
Working for peace
JESSEN said the EU is working closely with the government to help preserve the country’s peace situation. “The global agenda, and even here in the Philippines, is very clear to me. We try to support the peace process, which is very close to our hearts.”
The envoy referred to the differences in the southern regions of the country, between the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, which has undergone economic changes, as well as the Moro National Liberation Front, which continues to wage wars, thus depriving the inhabitants of some areas the peace and prosperity the rest of the country enjoys.
To help achieve peace and development there, he said the EU is sending a high-level delegation to Mindanao in August to help broker a lasting peace agreement between the Philippine government and Muslim separatist groups.
He said the projects they were doing there are “very warmly welcomed by the communities, and so, people are happy with the way we are doing it. As long as they are satisfied, we will continue to work along those lines”.
With 800,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Europe, Jessen said it is gratifying to note what Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello had told him lately: “Europe is one of the places where the Philippines never had any complaints.”
He praised the Philippine government’s concerns about the situation of OFWs in foreign governments, “and if you look at your compatriots in Europe, they are largely contented. I think it is also important, and we are also very happy to have them there”.
Image credits: Jimbo Albano
1 comment
Feeling entitled EU
Too much protection to criminals, too lenient to drug offenders, thus, rightist leaders are becoming popular.
Take care of your peace living citizens, not your criminals and drug pushers.