José María Aznar has given a speech in Budapest at the meeting of the Board of Directors of the International Democratic Center (IDC-CDI), of which he is Honorary President. Aznar has stressed the importance of advocating for ideas and restoring the politics in response to the confidence crisis, has pointed out the challenges of the technological revolution, and has appealed to the strengthening of Europe. "We must face reality with political leadership and solidarity among the members of the Union," as he assured.

Today HM the Emeritus King turned 80. José María Aznar, has manifested that “marked the road towards the peace, democracy, and liberty wanted by the Spanish society. His reign will be remembered as one of the most relevant of the History of Spain” he claimed". FAES awarded Don Juan Carlos with the I FAES Price of Liberty in 2009, recognizing his compromise with the reconciliation of the Spanish society, his role in the Transition period and for spreading the values of democracy and liberty in the whole world.

The Italian President has just put an end to the XVIII legislative term and the country finds itself now before a new political dilemma in which everything is possible. Two months before the elections, the situation seems in favor of the center right coalition, not officially presented as such yet, although the Movement Cinque Stelle holds around the 30% of support. Nevertheless, the favorite option in Europe would be the to reissue the pact between Partido Democratico and Forza Italia.

In this election neither the Constitution, nor the validity of the rule of law, nor the rights of all Catalans were submitted to a vote. The main responsibility of the Government and all the institutions, as well as of the parties placed in the Constitution, continues to be to guarantee those rights and the rule of law. Only in the destructive calculation made by secessionism it can be consider that the results ratify the nonsense of the separatist process or erase the responsibilities of its authors. This is the first and more important message that have to receive those who did not win the elections and who do not represent the majority vote of the Catalans.

Sebastián Piñera has obtained an overwhelming victory. The center-right comes out very strengthened and now has the historic responsibility of carrying out a reformist agenda aimed at modernizing the economy and transforming the inefficient public system of pensions, health and education. This will deepen the breach between the two Americas; the one of development and progress opposite to the one of regression and failure

Esta edición de Papeles FAES recoge las ideas y conclusiones del curso “Nación, Estado y Constitución” del Campus 2005 de la fundación, celebrado entre el 8 y el 10 de julio. En este curso intervinieron Carmen Iglesias, catedrática de Historia de las Ideas Políticas; Alain Lancelot, ex miembro del Consejo Constitucional de Francia; Edurne Uriarte, catedrática de Ciencias Políticas; Ferran Gallego, profesor de Historia Contemporánea de la Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona; Manuel Jiménez de Parga, ex presidente del Tribunal Constitucional; Arcadi Espada, periodista; Jon Juaristi, escritor; Roberto Blanco, catedrático de Derecho Constitucional; César Alonso de los Ríos, periodista; Javier Corcuera, catedrático de Derecho Constitucional; Josep Piqué, ex ministro de Asuntos Exteriores; Emilio Lamo de Espinosa, catedrático de sociología y Alejandro Muñoz-Alonso, catedrático de opinión pública y portavoz del Grupo Popular en la Comisión de Defensa del Senado. El curso fue dirigido por Javier Zarzalejos. La edición de esta publicación ha corrido a cargo de Santos Villanueva.

El rechazo de los ciudadanos franceses y holandeses a los referendos de ratificación del Tratado de la Constitución Europea celebrados, respectivamente, el día 29 de mayo en Francia y el día 1 de junio en Holanda, está dirigido en primer término contra los Gobiernos de Chirac y de Balkenende, pero manifiestan también la profunda ansiedad de amplios sectores de la población de ambos países respecto a tres problemas de alcance general: la ampliación al Este, los efectos de la globalización en economías ?que como la francesa, mantienen niveles decrecientes de competitividad y productividad? y el fenómeno de la inmigración. Se ha desencadenado una crisis en la Unión Europea, que podría tener consecuencias no sólo respecto al Tratado Constitucional, sino también en relación a la unión monetaria y al peso de Europa en el escenario internacional.

Europe is in the throes of two simultaneous crises: on the one hand, it is suffering from a political crisis, a crisis of leadership, one that has led to constitutional failure; on the other, it is suffering from a loss of identity, a phenomenon that results in cultural relativism. Marcello Pera, Speaker of the Italian Senate and Professor of Philosophy of Science at the University of Pisa, delivered a conference entitled “Strength of Identity” during the course of the FAES Campus 2005, a paper which the FAES Foundation is now publishing. Also known as the co-author of the book Senza Radici (“Without Roots”) alongside Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI), Professor Pera urges European culture to proudly recall and reaffirm its origins and its universal democratic principles: freedom, equality and tolerance. In this respect, Europe must recognise the intrinsic value of a civilisation, Western civilisation, that has given the world so many universal ideas. “Europe must be aware of the moral superiority of a series of values that have prevailed over centuries and that have produced beneficial results wherever they have become established”.

Desde su inicio, la Unión Europea ha adoptado sus decisiones por consenso y respetando el equilibrio de los intereses de todos. Este afán se plasma en un sistema político-institucional sui generis en el que los Tratados atribuyen el poder legislativo, judicial y ejecutivo entre las diversas instituciones comunitarias. Dentro del entramado institucional comunitario, el Consejo desempeña un papel fundamental, puesto que es co-legislador y autoridad presupuestaria junto con el Parlamento Europeo. Además, el Consejo está llamado a ejercer un papel cada vez mayor en la definición de la política exterior de la Unión Europea y realiza una labor fundamental en la preparación de las reuniones del Consejo Europeo, verdadero vértice político de la Unión Europea. La forma en que el Consejo adopta sus decisiones está también diseñada para conseguir el consenso y mantener el equilibrio de poderes. Hasta ahora, el Consejo ha adoptado sus decisiones mediante el denominado sistema de voto ponderado.