The European Republic
A Utopia for Europe
Europe’s future is caught between two sharply opposing visions of its crisis-ridden Union: preserve it, as the pro-Europeans argue, or dismantle it, as populists demand. Yet, a committed political thinker is fighting for a progressive third way: a Europe of regions that foster understanding among peoples under the umbrella of a European Republic.
SYNOPSIS
The crisis-ridden EU with its complicated trilogue structure needs reforms, above all a full parliamentarization. Shortly before the European elections in spring 2024, the film creates a new political, brave concept for the future of Europe with well-known protagonists from politics and culture.
The European Union is often described as a sluggish supertanker in need of reform. But what reforms are the right ones? The film explores the so-called "trilogue" involving the Parliament, the Commission, and the Council, and presents a vision that transcends the nation-state in favor of a common-good-oriented Europe of the regions.
Drawing on the 1941 Ventotene Manifesto by Altiero Spinelli, political thinker Ulrike Guérot, writer Robert Menasse, and theater maker Milo Rau develop the concept of a European Republic – for while we already have a common market and a common currency, what is missing is a shared European democracy.
MOTIVATION
THE EUROPEAN REPUBLIC - A UTOPIA FOR EUROPE arose out of the will to better understand the complex structures of the EU.
For us as - convinced European and member of the Erasmus generation - we are wondering since years, why is the EU not able to move forward and speak with a united voice, why is the EU unable to actively shape Europe for the better, why did we elect at the 2019 European Elections, but ultimately not the President of the European Commission (this fact will also analyzed in the film), what reforms are needed to get us back on track and out of crisis mode?
The film accompanies the most important advocate of a European Republic – the publicist Ulrike Guérot – and asks important personalities from culture – such as Milo Rau and Robert Menasse – and politics – such as Sandro Gozi, Manfred Weber and Alexander Graf Lambsdorff – about their vision for the future of Europe.
The courageous political concept of a European Republic with its visionary idea of a Europe without borders, which the freedom fighter Altiero Spinelli already called for during World War II in the famous Ventotene Manifesto during his imprisonment, needs a courageous film. Here it is.
