Throwing a Stone into the Pond: Joschka Fischer’s Federal Proposal to Relaunch European Integration

The radical shift in the vision and narrative about Europe that occurred at the beginning of the 21st century after the terrorist attack of 9/11 and the debt crisis after 2008 is clearly demonstrated by the analysis of the speeches held by Joschka Fischer, commented on by Giorgio Grimaldi. At the beginning of his paper, the author focuses on an overview of Joschka Fischer as a politician and says that there are three basic ele ments to consider: his commitment as an ecologist; his participation in the national government of the Federal Republic of Germany as Foreign Minister (1998–2005); and his intention to turn the EU into a federation of nation states. Grimaldi provides relevant biographical information and then shifts to the analysis of two significant speeches given by Fischer during his mandate as German Foreign Minister in two different contexts which outline his peculiar oratorical virtues as well as his compelling style. Fischer seemed to have a strong reformist image of Europe and his aim was to build ‘peace’, ‘security’, ‘inter-ethnic coexistence’ and ‘ecological sustainability’ in the context of an insecure and unstable world. The author outlines the change of Fischer’s mind through time, though he stresses his stable Euro-federalist attitude. Fischer criticised the EU’s shortfall in foreign and security policy, as well as its mismanagement of the eurocrisis. A noteworthy element is outlined by the author just after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when the EU was generally regarded as a model of ‘freedom’, ‘security’ and ‘wealth’, which after the long economic crisis of 2008 turned into a symbol of financial expropriation in the North and long-lasting desolation in the South, giving rise to eurosceptical and xenophobic stances across the community. By looking at the Swiss model, Fischer promoted the idea of deeper political integration to finally create the ‘United States of Europe’ char acterised by a European government, a common parliament with delegat ed members of national parliaments, a common fiscal policy, an energy union, a common foreign and security policy and the possibility of referen dums in cases of substantial transfer of sovereignty. The two speeches anal ysed by Grimaldi faithfully mirror a difficult transition, with a quantity of still unresolved issues relative to lasting peace and a strong continental union in a rapidly changing international system.