"Europe: Heading for which Future?"

On Friday, June 23, 2006, the Dutch Chapter of the Universal Peace Federation held a half day conference in Hotel Bijhorst, Wassenaar, near Den Haag. The conference was conducted in English, since a number of invitees were from foreign embassies.

Secretary General Drs Willem Koetsier, welcomed the guests and made some perceptive observations that were pertinent to the conference theme. He said history shows not only what actually happened but "what is/was inside us". The unfortunate but real struggle between an individual’s spiritual and carnal desires is also revealed in Europe’s history, in the conflicts between spiritual values and the desire for power and material. Religious groups had fought each other (Roman Catholics and Protestants most notably, but there are many more examples) and people had fought to "put their stamp" on the continent; to unite it, but using violent means.

In 1945, an exhausted Europe longed for an end to these conflicts. The inspiration to unite had been to ensure peace, but the external reality was that the past attempts to unite by violence had been replaced by economic agreements, starting with the European Coal and Steel Community and still the central factor in the European Union (affirmed later by the last speaker). But this was not enough to give it meaning. To create real peace in Europe, and thus help in the creation of world peace, one needed to have a fundamental and real respect for Human Rights – and a determination to uphold them.

Historically, Europe had done good and bad outside its boundaries. It could contribute to repair its bad influence, including the misdeeds under colonialism and the two world wars, only if it focused on core values, which included respect for human rights and spiritual aspiration.

In the Netherlands, we were told we should all know the law (so no excuse for breaking it), but this was unrealistic, no one could know all the details. Again, we thought of democracy as "everyone having a say in things." But we were not experts in everything and we needed to be able to trust experts to do the best for us. Lasting trust came from spiritual values and was vital for real democracy. In such a society, we would not always feel the need to "have a say" in everything, but we would respect the expertise of others and would be respected by others for our expertise. We might call this a "democracy of love".

Electricity made machines function. In a similar manner, love enables an individual to function to the best of his or her ability – and also to seek the benefit of the whole and act towards that end. We needed to focus on creating that situation in Europe.

Wim Koetsier's welcome was followed by the video created for the UPF inauguration tour of 2005. Before introducing Mr. Koetsier, MC Christopher Davies had drawn the attendees’ attention to materials in their conference pack, including an invitation to UPF-NL’s Inter-religious Rally for Family Values and World Peace on July 14,which would feature a Keynote Speech by Dr. Mrs. Hak Ja Han Moon ("God's Ideal Family and Peace Kingdom"), and in introducing the video he again mentioned Mrs. Moon’s upcoming visit, and how it was a follow up to Dr & Mrs. Moon’s visit to the Netherlands.

Three guest speakers and UPF’s Hans Campman's "The Divine Providence & the History of Europe" presentation.

The guest speakers were all members of the European Movement and all fervently committed to the European Union and further "widening and deepening" it, seeing that, it seems, as the surest way of ensuring the best future for the continent. Hans Campman looked at European history from a spiritual viewpoint, asserting "God’s handiwork in history does not manifest primarily in supernatural miracles or spiritual phenomena, but in Human Beings fulfilling their Responsibility", and that "between 1917 and 1930, humankind has entered a new age". Europe’s greatest challenge was to not "sink away into secularism and materialism, but to return to and complete its original God-given mission: the Realization of World Peace centered on God, spiritual values and religious freedom." For the good of the world and its own best future, Europe needed to "connect to God’s Will and serve the world with a heart of self-sacrifice."

Hans van Borselen presented "a bird's eye view" of the "History of European Cooperation since 1945". After WW2, everyone had said ‘war no more’, but the same had been said after WW1. In 1948, the European Movement - www.europeanmovement.org - held the first Pan European congress in the Hague - www.europeanmovement.org/history.cfm . The vision was of political, social, economic and cultural "One Europe", presided over by Winston Churchill who pleaded for a Pan European peace including the Soviet Union. At that time there was no "iron curtain" and he was very optimistic and idealistic; but that did not last for long. The conference was attended by delegations from Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary, but later that year they were invaded by the USSR. In 1949, the Council of Europe - www.coe.int - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Council_of_Europe - was formed, but without those "East European" countries. Because of what had happened to the, "human rights" was a major element – see www.coe.int/t/commissioner/default_EN.asp & http://www.echr.coe.int/echr . He explained that the twelve yellow stars on the symbol/flag have nothing to do with country numbers, but are derived from the "Greek symbol for unity" (more explanation at http://www.coe.int/T/E/Com/About_Coe/emblems/emblemes.asp ).

The three Benelux countries knew they needed the big countries to make for an effective European peace and in 1951, Germany (West), France and Italy joined them in the Treaty of Paris, creating the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Coal_and_Steel_Community . It was an economic grouping, but stimulated by the theory that since weapons of war were made of steel, pooling them might help to eradicate the chance of these countries fighting each other.

The French parliament resisted further political and military cooperation and so the emphasis was on encouraging further economic projects. Throughout the mid 50s, the Netherlands was very involved and the three areas were in developing free trade, a common agricultural policy (particularly important since there was a shortage of agricultural goods) and promoting the peaceful use of atomic/nuclear energy (Euraton).

In 1957, the Treaties of Rome established the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) - in which the signatory States "’determined to lay the foundations of an ever closer union among the peoples of Europe’. In this way, the member States specifically affirmed the political objective of a progressive political integration." - http://www.historiasiglo20.org/europe/traroma.htm. The UK, Ireland and Denmark joined the EEC in 1973, then in 1981, Greece, Spain and Portugal. Between 1985 and 1992 the Internal Market was developed and in 1991 the Treaty of Maastricht affirmed the three pillars of future cooperation: 1. Economic: the Internal Market, the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the Euro. 2. Foreign Affairs, though that was still undeveloped, and 3. Justice and Home Affairs, to address the growing international problems of drugs, asylum seekers, and terrorism: and this cooperation has grown stronger and stronger.

The European Union (EU) - http://europa.eu - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union, described as "a union of twenty-five independent states based on the European Communities and founded to enhance political, economic and social co-operation. Formerly known as European Community (EC) or European Economic Community (EEC). http://userpage.chemie.fu-berlin.de/adressen/eu.html - was founded on November 1, 1993, on January 1, 1995, Austria, Finland, Sweden joined, followed, on May 1, 2004, by ten more countries, eight of whom were part of the old Soviet Block, so in some way the Pan European dream of 1948 was again on the agenda.

Mr. Van Borselen was followed by Hans Campman's talk "The Divine Providence and the History of Europe": a quite extraordinary presentation, covering a vast sweep of history, showing amazing parallels between Old Testament history leading to Jesus and the history of the past 2,000 years, particularly as played out in Europe.

As mentioned shortly above, he asserted "God’s handiwork in history does not manifest primarily in supernatural miracles or spiritual phenomena, but in Human Beings fulfilling their Responsibility", that "Europe has played a major role in the Divine Providence of the last 2,000 years", and that "European history has been a major factor leading to today’s democratic hemisphere, based on religious freedom, which is the ultimate preparation for the Worldwide Peace Kingdom to be established."

Mr. Campman did his best to make his major points within the time allotted him and concluded "The parallels of History are a Testimony to the Living God who, in spite of numerous setbacks, has never given up His plan of love for His children and that between 1917 and 1930, humankind has entered a new age."

His talk was supported by a PowerPoint presentation and the conference pack included 15 pages of text and charts, so attendees could study the content at their leisure in depth and at length. (The PowerPoint and text/charts in WORD document can both be accessed at - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/upf-nl/files/Conferences.in.NL./2006.June23.Europe.../ - if needed, use ID "latest guest" and password "visitor" - possibly after clicking on "Sign Out" at the top and then on "Return..." - or they can be emailed on request.)

Dr. Willem F. van Eekelen has had a very distinguished career as a diplomat and politician (also as a government minister). He has been Secretary General of the Western European Union, chairs the European Movement in The Netherlands and is active in many organizations. He is committed to the creation of a draft "EU Constitution" acceptable to the electorate and clearly answered in the affirmative to his lecture title "Is Europe possible without a constitution?" He was obviously so sincere in his desire to use his skills to create the best chance for the development of a peaceful Europe, that this writer felt, in Wim Koetsier's "democracy of love", no one would challenge him, but just trust him to find the best answers.

He wondered why people in The Netherlands and France had rejected the draft Constitution. He felt people were concerned about their jobs and security, and the new factor of "globalization" and their vote was maybe more to show their dissatisfaction with their own governments than to actually express their opinion about the draft Constitution itself.

The lack of any mention of "God" in the draft Constitution had been mentioned in introducing him and he said there had been a ‘ lively debate’ about this. Some countries had felt that ‘separation of church and state’ meant there should be no mention at all, and indeed asserted that since "God" did not appear in their national constitutions, this was also so for the Netherlands, in addition to, particularly, France, they could not accept it in a European one. A compromise was reached in acknowledging the "cultural, religious and humanistic traditions of Europe".

He told his personal story of becoming a "defender of European integration", of how he went to study in the United States and how meeting German and Japanese students and finding he could be friends with them had changed his life. He was inspired by M. Spaak and Mendes-France and their passion for "Europe" at the council of Europe in 1954. He had sought advice as to the direction to take and had been recommended to start with ‘national service’. He had followed this way, which had led him to represent his country in the diplomatic service (New Delhi, London, Accra, Paris and Brussels NATO), then he had entered politics in the Dutch parliament and became State Secretary for Defense, State Secretary for European Affairs and Minister of Defense. In 1989, he became Secretary General of the Western European Union and his international role continued as chairman of the European Movement in the Netherlands and his efforts to create a European Union Constitution that could be accepted by the people.

The fall of the Berlin wall was a historic moment as the hopes of 1945 seemed capable of realization: the expansion of the European dream to the new democracies of eastern Europe. Ten more countries were added to the EU and the three pillars of the 1991 Treaty of Maastricht created: 1. the Euro, in particular, for stability; 2. a Common Foreign and Security policy; and 3. the Court of Justice and cooperation in home affairs.

It was understood that the main problem now was not conflict between states but within states. There was a new "security environment. Nobody declared war anymore. There was the need for "stability" in order to make peaceful change possible, Governments then needed to be flexible in taking care of poor people and protecting religious and ethnic minorities.

Sometimes military force was needed to stop the escalation of conflict, but how could one best carry that out? The UN could not really help: only about a quarter of its members were true democracies. The problems in Yugoslavia/Bosnia showed you could not use old methods for new situations, we needed to take a step forward and find the way to conduct ‘stabilization operations’.

Clear decision making was already difficult with a EU of 15 states – and more so with 25 states. We needed to deepen as well as widen the EU, to go hand in hand, create a ‘level playing field’, keeping state aid to a minimum and clarify the competence of institutions in a market of 500 million Europeans that wanted the freest possible movement of goods, services, people and capital. We needed a Constitution to clarify these matters.

Mr. Van Eekelen had been one of those who wanted to keep the Constitution as small as possible, but the Latin countries in particular preferred a longer document. In the event, the people of this country and France rejected the draft and we needed to have new proposals that could lead to necessary ‘binding commitments’ by the time of the next European elections.

Mr. Joost Peter van Iersel is actively involved in the European Movement, the Atlantic Commission and amongst his many appointments, he serves on the European Social and Economic Committee in Brussels. He has been a member of the Dutch Christian Democratic party and clearly is motivated by his Christian faith. His talk, "What is the Common Perspective for 25 Member States and more?", was very comprehensive in its look at what had led to today’s situation, and repeated much of the history the two previous guest speakers had covered.

He emphasized how all countries had joined freely, albeit for different reasons . Germany had lost everything after WW2 and felt that belonging to a larger group might help it rebuild. France, still afraid of Germany, wanted a common alliance. Both countries saw it as a political venture to ensure peace. When the British applied to join, they saw it merely as an economic grouping.

After German reunification, the French felt the need for a strong EU even more and the Germans felt the same, "to keep us in the right jacket" .The new, ex communist, members felt closer to the US than did the older ones, but still accepted the new EU regulations. It was a miracle that the EU functioned, even though there was full freedom of decision and/but no clear leadership. Somehow it held together, by intuition, conviction and the driving forces of companies and markets pressuring us to stay and conduct our ordinary lives together. He felt one reason for France’s current "identity crisis" was the realization that "the game is over, they can no longer be the boss".

There were now 25 different "social economy" models, basically grouped as Northern (Scandinavian), Anglo-Saxon, Latin and Central, and now Slavic. Somehow, through common decision, changes needed to be made to create a "convergent" system, one that worked for all. The Internal Market was pushing this, markets were dynamic. A common energy policy was needed and "9/11" had opened a "new chapter" in how we viewed security. We had helped keep war out, except in the Balkans, but slowly the mission was changing. We needed to clarify Europe’s position in the world, particularly with regard to the US, but also in the light of the growing power of China and India.

What was the position of Europe, with its 415 million people in a world of six billion people? The Internal Market was a major factor in sustaining the EU and that the growth of India and China and in general "pressure from outside" would mean that the process of European integration would continue.

Although time was rushing on, Wim Koetsier led a period of Questions and Answers which enabled attendees in the audience to actively participate. A number of the attendees were from countries outside of Europe and questioned what the EU (the three invited speakers were all particularly committed to the EU and so discussion tended to center around it) had to offer their countries.

Baron Edouard Prisse commented, "I am afraid that, notwithstanding the title of this conference "Europe, Heading for which future?", 95% of the talk has been about Europe's history and not enough about the future, not where it should go, nor a warning what would happen if it does not go where it should. "

Mr. Van Iersel's response was largely about the Internal Market and the need to counter the challenge posed by the rise of India and China, but on being invited by Mr. Koetsier, Mr. Campman spoke more in the line of the last slides of his PowerPoint:

"Europe’s task is to not sink away into secularism and materialism, but to return to and complete its original God-given mission: the Realization of World Peace centered on God, spiritual values and religious freedom. If Europe connects to God’s Will and serves the world with a heart of self-sacrifice, investing its values, wealth, technology and manpower, Europe will be the world’s leading Peacemaker."

Wim Koetsier then handed our Certificates of Appointment to a number of new Ambassadors for Peace - nine were appointed, though one of these had to leave early and one or two arrived late. He first said something about each person, then handed them their certificate and invited them to speak.

These included the first two invited speakers. The last speaker had also been invited to become an AfP. He had said "let's wait and see" and after the conference he indicated that yes, he would like to become an AfP.

The first new AfP was Ann Harris, a teacher, writer, storyteller, singer, past local council politician and an active contributor to bringing better understanding between Surinam and Dutch women. She commented that real peace needed the element of heart as well as intellect and also suggested that Christianity had a major part to play in creating a good future for Europe.

Mrs. F.C. Koerselman-Schuurmans is a native Dutchwoman who had lived in Africa and together with her husband (now deceased) created an evangelical charity African Care. She gave thanks "to the Lord" and also to UPF for recognizing her work. She read St Francis of Assisi's's prayer that inspired the song "Make me a channel of you peace", which was much appreciated by Mr. Van Iersel. It was very interesting to see how the speakers, who had given somewhat intellectual presentations, showed another side of their character at this time.

Wim Koetsier invited Dr. Willem F. van Eekelen to also bring his wife to the front to receive the AfP certificate and later invited her to speak, which she did, quite beautifully, "we do our best to help bring peace - especially with the Moslem community."

Mohamed Amin Touhami is a young Moslem who has founded an organization Vereniging Samen to bring people together. He spoke with strong conviction of how peace needed to begin with each one of us, in the way we live "on the street".

Lia Matheu is coordinator of "Steunpunt Arubanen en Antillianen Den Haag" (STAAD). Many years ago, she had been shocked by the suffering of the Biafran War and "resolved to work to make things better." She felt things were not much better but was grateful that she could live and work in a peaceful situation and was inspired by my friends that are suffering to do better." She was "honored and proud" to be awarded this AfP Certificate.

Wim Koetsier invited Mrs. Harris to sing and after being assured that Hans Campman could accompany her without a rehearsal, she led us in singing "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" (Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord) after which Wim Koetsier led everyone in a toast to World Peace.

Conference attendees included a number of UPF Ambassadors for Peace and representatives from the embassies of Aruba, Romania, Indonesia and Croatia. Each new guest received a "Candidate Ambassador for Peace" form and all attendees received an invitation to the UPF rally on July 14 which would be addressed by UPF Co-Founder Mrs. Dr Hak Ja Han Moon. Many expressed how much they were looking forward to this. The conference organizers were well pleased with the excellent speeches of the three guest speakers. The conference was also attended by representatives from the embassies of Aruba, Romania, Indonesia and Croatia.

In essence, the three guest speakers urged greater development of the EU, to protect Europe from the threat of war within its borders and to help economic prosperity through greater cooperation within and dealing with the rising influence of others countries.

Hans Campman emphasized the need for Europeans, individually and in institutions, whether within the EU or not, to "connect to God’s Will and serve the world with a heart of self-sacrifice" and UPF Secretary General Wim Koetsier asserted that Europe could ensure a good future for its peoples only if it focused on core values, which included respect for human rights and spiritual aspiration.

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