European Union wins Nobel Peace Prize despite worst Euro crisis

Yuba Nath Lamsal

The European Union won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. It is not bad and not good either. An organization or individual has to get it and the EU got. That’s the bottom line. There should be no surprise as the organizing committee thought it appropriate to award the organization of their own governments. Looking back to history of Nobel Peace Prize, many deserving individuals and organizations have been honored with this most prestigious award. However, questions were raised over the credentials and qualification of certain individuals that were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

 This year’s Nobel Peace Prize has gone to the organizations of the European governments, the reins of which are at the hands of a few powerful countries. The Nobel Prize is nothing for such big powers in terms of the amount the prize carries. But this was a political backing to the organization. It was, indeed, a cheer for an organization that is struggling to tackle the continent's economic misery -- particularly in debt-ridden Greece, Spain, and Portugal -- as some member countries might be faced with dropping the euro, the EU currency. The honor has been bestowed upon the European Union at a time when the entire continent is struggling with the history’s worst economic crisis accompanied by social unrest and conflict. From Poland to Portugal, Spain to Sweden, Italy and Ireland and Belgium to Britain, the Euro Zone is suffering from one crisis to another. This has unnerved the economists, policy makers, experts and governments, who otherwise issue prescriptions for economic recovery to the governments of the developing countries. The decision to confer the coveted award has definitely boosted the morale of the entire Union and the governments within this organization. The announcement of Nobel Prize Committee surprised many including the officials of the European Union itself. Some officials even reacted with skepticism about whether the organization really deserved such a prestigious Prize. However, the European Union and its member nations have taken it as a positive news and move to recognize the European Union as the leader in peace building efforts in the world.  "The awarding of the prize must not leave us in the illusion that we are today being as successful as our forefathers," said former Belgian premier Guy Verhofstadt, the leader of the European Parliament's liberal faction.  In the first ever response to the announcement of the decision of Nobel Prize Committee, European Commission’s   President Jose Manuel Barroso said, "When I woke up this morning I did not expect it to be such a good day”.
European Union is an organization of 27 countries of the European continent. The award, thus, brought much relief and jubilitation to people of all 27 countries and powers that control the body in particular. It is a respite for the countries that are confronted with ‘endless stream of negative economic data’ and debt crisis that has already challenged the social cohesion in the region and fueled ethnic and racial tension. Despite disturbances and disorder at home due mainly to recession and economic crisis, European Union is, no doubt, a beacon of hope for peace, stability and prosperity in the rest of the world. The EU is seen by the developing world as the savior and crusader for world peace, human rights and democracy. This is because, a key objective of the foreign and aid policy of the European is to promote peace, democracy and human rights in the world.  The award is, thus, the recognition to its efforts for world peace, prosperity and progress though democratization of the government and society as well as ensuring access to justice for all people including the underprivileged and downtrodden section.

However, there are critics and opponents, too, who have passed disparaging remarks on the decision to award the European Union with the Nobel Peace Prize.  At a time when the most of the members of the European Union are embroiled in internal squabbling and the organization has not been able to ensure harmony among its members itself, how can such an organization be judged as being qualified for getting such a highly revered and prestigious peace award? The European Union is, without any shade of doubt, mired in numerous problems and crises and it has not been able to solve its own problems. Ever since the European Union decided to enlarge its organizational structure by means of incorporating more members mainly the countries of former Soviet bloc, the EU is struggling to manage itself especially after Bulgaria and Romania joined the organization in 2007. It has been widely criticized that the EU, after the organizational enlargement, has lost its common purpose and common vision for which the organization had been created.

With the honor being bestowed upon this organization, now the Union has a moral obligation to further step up its efforts in bringing peace not only to its neighborhood but has to take necessary initiative in building and promoting peace in the world as a whole. They now have to sort out the serious differences on ways and means to get rid of the economic crisis that has swept many countries within the organization including Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy. In the absence of unanimous voice of the EU members, several key issues that have plagued some EU countries economically remain to be unresolved. Now European leaders are returning to the negotiating table to fight out their differences over a central euro zone banking supervisor—considered a key step to further integration and a precondition to bailing out ailing banks— the measures expected to rescue the ailing economies and countries. Most importantly, the peace that Europe has enjoyed since the end of the World War II is now taken for granted by its own citizens - despite recent conflict on its borders, in the Balkans and little further in the Middle East and the Central Asian region. And this peace must be maintained at any cost to make its presence felt in the world in a collective manner. In terms of economic size and population, Europe is losing its strength. The total size of population of EU is less than an individual Asian country. If the economic strength is to be taken into consideration, the individual European countries may not stand anywhere. Many countries in the developing world are emerging fast and in a very surprising manner. If EU countries do not stand collectively, they may lose their historic charm and image and ultimately lose their presence and clout in the international arena. This is one and only reason for the European countries to have come under a single umbrella and with a collective identity.

This is the age of collectivism. European Union is the leader in the collective approach and regional cooperation. And perhaps, in this lies the strength of the Europe. Perhaps, this is the message that has gone far and wide in the world which has persuaded many countries in the world to come up with various regional groupings guided by the purpose of bolstering regional cooperation. This concept of collectivism in dealing with and addressing the common problems are innovative steps towards achieving peace in the world and promoting democracy, prosperity and justice. Justifying it first full time EU President Herman Van Rompuy said that EU is the "biggest peacemaking institution ever created”, while Luxembourg's Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who holds an influential post in the euro zone, has warned throughout the crisis that Europe has witnessed "a miracle" in the last sixty years.  
Defending the Nobel Prize Committee’s decision, Steven Blockmans, of the Centre for European Policy Studies, said the timing of the prize was the key. "It expresses the expectations ... that Europe sorts itself out and overcomes its internal squabbles on economic and financial integration and manages to keep the European integration project - which essentially is a peace project – going”. Jan Techau, the director of Carnegie Europe think-tank, also stressed the political dimension of the prize, which comes months before the 50th anniversary of the Elysee treaty reconciling France and Germany. "It gives the EU a morale boost at a time when it has been shaken to its core. The prize is an encouragement to the EU to continue its peace-generating integration work," Techau said. "It is a reminder to euro-skeptics to consider the real merits of the union they so despise, and it is an appeal to Europe to finally become a serious strategic player in the world."