Last Friday, 9 May 2025, standing on the Bell Tower terrace in Perth during the French-Australian Chamber of Commerce's Young European Day, I found myself transported back to September 1992. As young Europeans from across Australia exchanged fresh ideas about decentralisation and citizen-led governance, I couldn't help but remember my own naïve enthusiasm for Europe thirty-three years earlier. The contrast between those Perth conversations and my youthful idealism sparked this reflection on my European journey, and how distance sometimes brings the clearest perspective. 🇫🇷🇦🇺🇪🇺
Dreams Among the Vines
September 20, 1992. The date is forever etched in my memory. A week before France's historic referendum on the Maastricht Treaty, I was harvesting grapes at Domaine de la Romanée-Conti in Burgundy. Between rows of precious vines, my fellow students and I debated Europe's future while cutting clusters of Pinot Noir.
"This treaty will change everything", I insisted, wiping sweat from my brow. "Economic efficiency, stronger foreign policy, solidarity between nations; it's the foundation of a new Europe".
Marcel, one of my fellow grape pickers, looked sceptical. "Brussels bureaucrats don't understand what happens here in the soil. They'll make rules for everyone without knowing anyone".
"But that's the point", I argued, hands purple with grape juice. "No more barriers. One currency. One voice in the world".
The estate manager reminded us that these berries wouldn't harvest themselves. Yet as we worked, the question lingered: Would Maastricht's pillars, European Communities, Common Foreign and Security Policy, Justice and Home Affairs, truly deliver the prosperity and peace we craved?
Six days later, France approved Maastricht by the narrowest margins, 51% to 49%. We called it the "petit oui". Even then, this signalled trouble ahead. Yet as a constitutional and european law student, I remained convinced that Maastricht would deliver four transformative promises: economic efficiency, unified foreign policy, solidarity between nations, and collaborative solutions to shared challenges.
How young I was. How naïve.
The Painful Unravelling
When France rejected the European Constitution in 2005, I watched in dismay as European elites simply repackaged it as the Lisbon Treaty and bypassed public opinion. Ireland's initial rejection, followed by pressure for a second referendum with the "correct" outcome, revealed a troubling pattern: when citizens spoke against Brussels' vision, they were treated not as participants in democracy but as obstacles to overcome.
Over decades, I watched each of my cherished promises crumble. Economic efficiency brought austerity to Greece that crushed growth and human dignity. Our unified foreign policy fractured over Ukraine and China. Solidarity collapsed under the weight of the 2015 migration crisis, as fences rose along borders that were supposed to have vanished. And shared challenges like climate change received uneven, inconsistent responses.
The formal pillars remained, but their spirit had evaporated. Centralisation, originally meant to unite Europeans, instead bred resentment. Citizens felt increasingly distanced from decisions made in Brussels conference rooms, where technocrats prioritised institutional stability over democratic representation.
My generation's European dream hadn't failed because it was too ambitious, but because it had been implemented in ways that prioritised institutions over individuals, bureaucracy over genuine connection, and centralised control over grassroots innovation.
Australia: A New Vantage Point
Life took an unexpected turn in 2016 when my personal life brought me to Perth. Distance changes perspective, I soon discovered. Among Perth's European expatriate community, French, German, Italian, Polish, Spanish, I found something unexpected: hope.
At FACCI's Young European Day last Friday, I listened as young Europeans articulated a vision for Europe that felt both familiar and revolutionary. Their ideas didn't reject European cooperation but reimagined how it might function: decentralised decision-making that empowers regions and cities; citizen assemblies that bring everyday voices into the policy process; cultural exchanges focused on people-to-people connections rather than institutional alignments.
Their pragmatism struck me most. Free from the weight of ongoing political battles and historical grievances, these Europeans in Australia saw possibilities where continental debates had reached stalemates. When a young French suggested that environmental policies should emerge from regional cooperatives rather than EU directives, heads nodded. When a German engineer proposed digital platforms to connect citizens directly with policymaking, conversation exploded with practical refinements.
From 14,500 kilometres away from the European institutions, these Europeans had gained clarity about what truly matters. They valued Europe's essential promise - cooperation, shared values, peace - without being trapped by its institutional manifestations. Their distance allowed them to separate the dream from its flawed implementation
Dreams Renewed
As I rode home along Perth's coastline that evening, I felt something I hadn't experienced in years when thinking about Europe: hope.
Perhaps it takes this distance to see clearly what Europe could still become. Here in Australia, European expatriates have shed the cynicism that now pervades the continent. We've retained the dream while recognising the flaws in its execution.
Over cocktails, I found myself in an illuminating discussion with a representative from SwissCham about Switzerland's tradition of direct democracy. "Our referendum system isn't perfect," he explained, "but it creates legitimacy. When Swiss citizens reject a proposal, politicians must listen, not simply repackage it." This stands in stark contrast to the EU's approach to the French and Dutch "no" votes in 2005, or Ireland's initial Lisbon rejection.
The Swiss model offers an intriguing possibility for a reimagined Europe (and France?) one where sovereignty is distributed rather than centralised, where citizen participation isn't merely symbolic but substantively shapes policy. While scaling such a system to the EU's complexity presents significant challenges, it points toward a fundamental truth: political legitimacy emerges from cultural foundations, not from artificial constructs imposed from above.
This insight challenges the prevailing technocratic paradigm that has dominated Brussels. As political philosopher Pierre Manent argues, genuine political community requires a shared understanding of common goods rooted in cultural and historical contexts. The EU's attempt to bypass these foundations in favor of administrative rationality has created a democratic deficit that cannot be resolved through merely institutional reforms.
A Mosaic of Possibilities: Finding Europe's Soul Beyond Brussels
What if European integration proceeded not through standardisation but through recognising and celebrating plurality? What if, instead of seeking to homogenise diverse cultural, political, and economic traditions, Europe's governance structures were designed to harness this diversity as a source of resilience and innovation? The Swiss confederal model - respecting canton autonomy while fostering cooperation on shared challenges - offers one template for such thinking.
The Europe I imagined while harvesting La Tâche grapes at Domaine de la Romanée-Conti still feels possible from this vantage point. Not a Europe of treaties negotiated behind closed doors, but one built from the ground up by its citizens. Not centralised power, but collaborative networks. Not imposed solidarity, but authentic connection forged through genuine democratic participation that honors the distinct cultural and historical foundations of each community.
The European project's heart may be faltering in Brussels, but perhaps its soul is being reborn here, among the eucalyptus trees and ocean breezes of Western Australia. In this unexpected place, the dream lives on transformed, humbler, but perhaps more authentic than ever. Perhaps it takes this distance to see clearly what Europe could still become. Here in Australia, European expatriates have shed the cynicism that now pervades the continent. We've retained the dream while recognising the flaws in its execution. 🇫🇷🇦🇺🇪🇺
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The Young European Day event on 9 May 2025 was made possible through the collaborative efforts of the co-organisers: the Western Australian Croatian Chamber of Commerce, the WA French-Australian Chamber of Commerce (FACCI), the Norwegian Australian Chamber of Commerce, the Italian Chamber of Commerce & Industry in Australia (Perth), SwissCham Australia, and the Hellenic Australian Chamber of Commerce WA (HACCI WA). Special thanks to our local partners: the City of Perth, the Western Australian Government's Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation, and the Bell Tower Centre for hosting this celebration of European cooperation and vision.