After the debate on the “red carpet” that Mr Cameron would like to roll out under the feet of French entrepreneurs and the submission of an application for the acquisition of the Belgian nationality by Bernard Arnault, and other similar debates in other countries, we are entering a very dangerous time for France and for Europe.
It would be a disaster if France were to expel its elites by confiscatory taxation or an anti- wealth discourse, it would be just as suicidal for all the countries of the European Union to compete with each other for their citizens through fiscal or social higher bids. It would be to forget that our destinies are intertwined and no country of our continent will be able to maintain its standard of living if there is a decrease in that of others.
It is therefore a matter of urgency for a paradigm shift, and to get out of this absurd competition, to set up a genuine European nationality with a European passport.
This would be in continuation of something that exists: the European Union has given itself a parliament, the only one in the world in which voters do not all have a common nationality. EU citizens have the right to vote in the local elections of their country of residence in the Union. With the ESM, we have just created, without saying so, an entity with the means to acquire companies on behalf of the citizens of the European Union, to « Europeanise » them, the continental equivalent of nationalization. In addition, many technical fields have created “European passports” unifying skills and rights to become established, create a business, work in a profession, or organize a system for the recognition and equivalence of diplomas. Finally, any national passport in the EU today is engraved with the initials of the Union.
It is time to take things further and set up a genuine European nationality. Of course, it could not immediately reach a stage of maturity and fullness.
One might imagine first that any citizen, from any country of the Union could obtain the right, without special investigation, to a « European citizenship ». It would give this person the right to settle where he wants; he would be able to cross all borders in the Union and in the rest of the world with this single passport. It would also serve as an identity card in any country of the Union where he would decide to settle.This would open to him all the national rights, including voting in the legislative and presidential elections in that country, provided he has resided there for at least ten years and also that he does not vote in these elections in another country of the Union. The country in which he would choose to vote would be the one in which he would pay his taxes; thus the European passport would not be a way to escape taxes. For the vast majority of those who would choose it, this country would remain the country of their birth, their culture, and their language. This passport would in no way reduce the desire to belong to a country and would give, in addition, around the world, the support of a great continental power.
These citizens of the European Union would then have special rights that those who did not want this nationality would not have, such as the right to vote, by universal suffrage, for the President of the Union, a post merged with that of the European Commission.
We could also ensure that these voters harmonize the tax regimes of those who hold one, no matter where they live.
One could imagine that finally such a passport be then granted automatically, a right, to any newborn child in the Union, except in case of an explicit refusal from his parents.
If there were such a passport, I would be the first to request one. And you?