Original subtitles

(dramatic music)

I'm Christopher Clark, Cambridge historian.

I was born in Australia.

For Europeans that's practically the other end of the world.

But the European continent

and its incredible diversity always fascinated me.

Even in the far off country where I grew up,

I was always aware that so much

of our world has our roots in Europe,

and modern Europe is one

of the greatest achievements in human history.

I want to share the grand saga of this continent,

and in the process I hope to

rediscover its wonders for myself.

Europe, no other continent on earth

has as much natural and cultural diversity

crammed into such a small area.

The tension between unity and division

has been one of the central themes of European history,

and today it is still the cardinal question

facing Europe's political leaders.

The European continent was in a constant state of flux,

not just politically but also in its mental life.

Everything was called into question.

For every idea there was a counter-idea.

A kind of restlessness has always characterized

the intellectual life of Europe.

The most diverse cultures collide

in the confined and fragmented space

of the European peninsula,

and the result was almost always violence.

Europe, a continent at war.

In no other part of the world has there been

such intense and sustained fighting

over power, religion, and dominance.

Again and again, Europeans have striven to make peace.

Some peace settlements were robust and durable,

others were not.

The world's most devastating wars

originated on this continent.

The First World War, the seminal catastrophe

of the 20th century.

The Second World War changed the face of Europe forever.

Here in Kiev in Ukraine,

the battles were particularly ferocious.

(emotional music)

Hitler wants to subjugate Europe

and challenge the global hegemony

of the English speaking peoples.

The Nazis' demented expansion plans,

their campaign for Lebensreform

ends in unparalleled destruction

and crimes against humanity.

The Second World War left Europe in ruins

and sundered the continent into two zones of influence.

The Allies have won the war,

and together they want to shape the peace.

US President Truman, Soviet dictator Stalin,

and British Prime Minister Churchill

will divide the continent between them.

I've traveled to Reims in France

where the German Weimer

signed its unconditional surrender in 1945.

In 1962, the German Chancellor, Konrad Adenauer,

and the French President, Charles de Gaulle,

come to this city to celebrate the reconciliation

of their two countries.

The French greet Adenauer with rousing cheers,

something that was not to be taken for granted,

especially in this city.

(dramatic music)

It was an important moment for Europe

when two statesmen from Germany and France,

Conrad Adenauer and Charles de Gaulle

specifically chose Reims as the location

to hold a massive reconciliation.

For many Germans, Reims was the place where the Weimar

had signed an agreement of unconditional surrender

to the Allies at the American headquarters

on the 7th of May, 1945.

For the French, the symbolic importance of Reims

was even greater.

This was where the coronations of French kings

had been held.

The cathedral was severely damaged by German artillery fire

at the beginning of World War I.

In fact, Reims was so completely devastated

and suffered so many deaths during the First World War

that it was granted the official title

of Ville Martyre, martyred city,

and now 17 years after an even more horrific world war,

history turned a corner.

Hostility made way for friendship.

It was miracles of reconciliation like this

that laid the foundations of a united Europe.

The mass for reconciliation is the beginning

of a budding relationship between the two peoples

and a successful partnership

between the German chancellery and the Elysee Palace,

a partnership that would become

the heart of the European community

and the principle motor of its political evolution.

It remains so even today.

Redemption and relief after centuries of animosity.

The two countries' shared Christian roots

were a great help in this process,

but is Christianity still a factor in these relationships?

Go into a church in Western Europe,

and you may well find it empty,

even during the religious service,

and yet when travel in Europe I cam constantly struck

by the deep imprint Christianity has left

on all domains of European life,

the endless variety of ecclesiastical building,

the omnipresence of religious images in art and music.

Europe is often described as a secular

or post-Christian continent, and you can see why,

but the wellspring is not entirely dry,

and the continuing power of this tradition

should not be underestimated.

Even within the circle of Europe's political leaders,

there are signs of revival of Christian commitments.

As an Australian, I come from a continent

with no internal political borders.

Europe still has national borders, of course,

even if they're open and barely visible today.

Here for example in Leiding and in Saarland.

One town, two countries.

Here in this little village,

we can experience European history firsthand.

In 1814, after the Congress of Vienna,

this road became the border between Germany and France,

carving up the village that the great powers

had treated as a pawn for the previous 200 years.

Sometimes it was French, sometimes it was German.

Now it's one thing above all, European,

but there are still differences between the two parts

of the village.

Here I'm in France in Leiding,

and on the other side of the road

is the German state of Saarland.

They have two fire departments and two mail services,

but one language unites the people here,

the Moselle Franconian dialect that has survived

on both sides of the border.

I'm meeting with the two mayors of Leiding.

What does Europe mean to them?

(speaking foreign language)

Things that belong together for all of their differences

are finally growing together in Europe.

Another town, another border.

This fence still stands as a reminder of a bygone era.

It divided not only the town of Modlareuth

and the families that lived there.

It also separated Germany and Europe

into east and west.

The East German regime even built a wall

through this town that looked a little

like the one in Berlin.

The border dividing Germany,

cutting through the heart of Europe,

is expanded and reinforced throughout the 1960s.

The East German government refers to it

as an anti-fascist protective rampart.

In fact, it's true purpose is to ensure

that no more East German citizens can escape to the West.

More than three million people had already done so

by 1961 when the wall was built.

Fleeing the Eastern Republic means risking death.

In the 1970s, relations between East and West begin to thaw.

For the first time, a West German chancellor

visits the East, Willy Brandt.

The goal is to achieve gradual change through rapprochement

between the two states.

West Germany signs treaties with Moscow and Warsaw,

and Willy Brandt is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize

for his efforts.

One important objective of these agreements

is the avoidance of war,

but the period of detente doesn't last long.

After all, the tension between these two

very different world views is fundamental

to the global, political order.

Communism and dictatorship on one side,

capitalism and democracy on the other.

Life is more hectic and more prosperous in the West.

The border between the two blocks slices straight through

the heart of Europe.

Only a few European countries remain outside these blocks.

Sweden and Finland, Ireland, Austria,

Switzerland, and Yugoslavia.

By the end of the 1970s,

the two blocks are engaged in a fierce arms race.

Throughout this ideological and geopolitical conflict,

there are always phases of escalation and detente.

The benefits and risks of deterrence

are the subject of heated debate in the West,

well into the mid-1980s.

(suspenseful music)

Military exercises for a war

that can never be allowed to happen.

Any open conflict in this atmosphere

would inevitably have gone beyond a mere exchanges of blows.

Both sides have massive stockpiles of nuclear weapons.

The heart of Europe is a potential battlefield

in an escalating nuclear standoff.

The events of August 1980 finally spell

the beginning of the end for a divided Europe.

Strikes and protest erupt in Poland,

calling for greater freedom

under the communist dictatorship.

They are spurred on by the Solidarnosc Labor Union

and with the blessing and assistance of a Polish pope

who believes that solidarity and political freedom

are Christian and European values,

and suddenly Europe's division seems surmountable.

It's Moscow of all places that sets the avalanche in motion.

In 1985 the new Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev

launches a sweeping transformation of the Soviet system.

Gorbachev, an extraordinary statesman

who's broad and humane vision restarted European history.

(dramatic music)

Worse than being blind is not wanting to see.

It was Vladimir Ilyich Lenin of all people who said that.

His political heirs didn't want to see.

The communist system of government collapsed

because it was forced upon the people

by a political elite.

It was a regime of hyper regulation

that led to shortages and under development.

Mikhail Gorbachev famously remarked,

"He who comes too late is punished by life."

Whether he ever uttered this elegant aphorism

in exactly those words is disputed,

but we do know for certain

that he made the following statement

in front of the East German Politburo,

and I quote, "If we lag behind the times,

"life will immediately punish us."

And indeed, after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989

an enormous wave of change rolled across Eastern Europe

and ultimately the whole of the continent,

and Leningrad became Saint Petersburg once again.

The turning point comes in 1989,

200 years after French revolutionaries

stormed the Bastille prison in Paris.

Both revolutions bring down autocratic regimes.

The Berlin Wall, a longstanding symbol of oppression,

finally falls.

The people peacefully push open the gate to unity.

Some of Germany's European partners are initially unsettled

when the country begins to consider reunification,

but the European community stands by its commitments

to freedom and self-determination.

And, the European Union has the opportunity to grow.

Increasing numbers of former Eastern Block countries

join its ranks including Lithuania,

Estonia, Latvia, Poland,

the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Slovenia.

Gradually, a community with its roots in the West

becomes a union of 28 states throughout Europe.

Our journey through the history of Europe

shows just how much this continent has already achieved.

Europe has learned from its history.

It's put the battlefields behind it,

it's formed its own union.

Conflict and uneasy coexistence became partnership,

earning the EU the Nobel Peace Prize.

The prize was well deserved, but the Union can't afford

to rest on its laurels.

Peace and security in Europe

are being put to the test right now

in a way we haven't seen since the Cold War.

The European Union is increasingly going to have to

take responsibility for its own security

and rely less on external support.

The Ukraine conflict made this crystal clear,

as Europe drifted into a new East-West conflict.

After Russia, Ukraine is the largest country in Europe.

It's been independent since 1991,

but the Ukrainian government put an abrupt halt

to the country's growing rapprochement

with the EU in November 2013.

Protests by Western minded Ukrainians

at the Maidan Square in Kiev were the result.

The clashes at the Maidan grew more violent

in the month that followed.

A new Ukrainian government was elected,

but at the same time pro-Russian separatist forces

staged an uprising in Eastern Ukraine.

This conflict between East and West

permeates the entire country.

Geographically, politically, and culturally

Ukraine belongs to both sides.

What do people in Kiev think of Europe today?

(speaking foreign language)

Europe is our better future,

so perhaps Ukraine is a historical European state

'cause 'til the beginning of the 16th century

it was the part of Lithuania,

so perhaps we should go back to Europe

'cause our mutual history with Russia

shows some bad results which we face now.

And, perhaps our European integration

may cause some good results to our state.

(speaking foreign language)

But, these ideals are constantly

being called into question.

Who can the citizens of Ukraine rely on?

The churches still play an important role here,

and this was clearly in evidence

during the events on Maidan Square in 2013

when police beat student protestors

who were gathered to demonstrate in favor of

the Association Agreement with the European Union.

Some of those protestors sought refuge in this cathedral.

A priest had opened the gate to them.

The police pursued them, but only as far as the gate.

They didn't dare to venture inside the church itself.

It was the Ukrainian Orthodox church incidentally

that offered a refuge to the protestors.

The Russian orthodox authorities

remained passive bystanders.

In that sense, the conflict struck

at the heart of the Orthodox church.

Most Ukrainian congregations insist on their independence

and view the Moscow patriarchy as an extension

of Russian President Putin's influence.

(dramatic music)

Vladimir Putin keeps a tight grip on the reigns.

Since he won the presidential election in 1999,

he has remained firmly in the seat of power.

Putin's policy of countering Western initiatives

with provocations of his own leads to confrontation,

but it plays brilliantly with the Russian population.

Military units loyal to Moscow marching in Eastern Ukraine,

the Russian annexation of Crimea,

and Putin's involvement in Syria

are all events that bolster his strongman image.

The Kremlin even tried to manipulate

the American presidential elections in 2016,

though there's still disagreement

on how effective these efforts were,

and in 2017 a populist moved into the White House,

Donald Trump.

National egoism is fashionable again,

and it looks similar in every country.

America first!

Again, America first!

National pride has always been a crowd pleaser.

(speaking foreign language)

(crowd cheers)

Europe can only continue to exist

as a sovereign community if it resists

nationalist unilateralism,

but how can the continent achieve that level of sovereignty?

Only by reflecting confidently on its past,

the strength and values that have evolved over millennia,

can Europe replenish its vision of the future.

A German politician, Theodore Heuss once said

that modern Europe was built on three hills.

The Athenian Acropolis, meaning freedom and democracy,

the Capitoline Hill in Rome,

meaning respect for the law and state of authority,

and Golgotha, meaning the Christian tradition.

It's a nice piece of rhetoric,

but the reality is more complex.

Many European countries have only recently

embraced democracy, and in some member states,

the rule of law cannot be taken for granted.

The road to democracy was a rocky and intermittent one,

and traveling it took nearly two and a half thousand years.

The Greeks took the first steps,

but of course ancient Greek democracy

didn't have much in common with our modern parliaments

or with our democratic process,

and the first Athenian democracy only lasted

for just under 200 years,

yet ancient Athens remains our political model today.

(uplifting music)

Rome was a republic, but it wasn't a democracy.

Even if there were public assemblies and a senate

the system wasn't immune to the whims

of tyrannical rulers who saw themselves as gods,

but it was during this era that Roman law was invented,

and the rule of laws is as important

to the success of democracy

as are elections and parliaments.

Being part of the Roman Empire meant being part

of a perfectly organized European community

for countries and citizens alike.

Engineering, architecture, international trade,

and prosperity.

It's almost as though we're talking about modern Europe.

In that sense, Rome is more than just history.

It's also very much the present.

In the 9th century, the Frankish king, Charlemagne

would begin to build on the foundations

first laid by the empire in Rome.

Even back then he had a vision for Europe.

On Christmas day in the year 800,

he is crowned Roman emperor by the Pope,

and the glory and magistery of the Roman Empire

passes into the hands of the Franks.

Aachen, Charlemagne's favorite palace,

becomes the cultural heart of the continent,

and the emperor a father figure to the whole of Europe.

A standardized writing system, binding laws, currency,

Charlemagne even promotes the arts and education.

Monarchy and church would continue to dominate

the public life of Europe for centuries to come.

Of course, the freedoms that we take for granted

in Europe today were unknown,

but church and state were constantly

at each other's throats,

and by keeping each other in check

they created a certain room for political maneuver.

Popular resistance to traditional authority

was another driver of change.

Martin Luther attacks the papal church

and speaks of the priesthood of all believers

who answer only to God

The Reformation spreads swiftly

across central and northern Europe.

It creates an environment

where people begin to question authority.

(crowd cheers)

The spirit of revolution would only grow stronger

in the centuries to come,

and the rulers of Europe would feel its effects.

Among those who bear the brunt of popular upheaval

are the French royal family.

In late 18th century France,

the crown wields the full power of the French state.

Versailles is the heart of it all,

and the king is the sun around which everything revolves.

Well, not for long.

The French Revolution erupts.

The key words of the revolutionary movement

are strident signals to the rest of Europe.

Freedom, equality, brotherhood.

The French Revolution would change the continent

and the world forever.

The revolution brought the concept

of the separation of powers to the fore in Europe.

In the decades that followed,

elected parliaments became increasingly common,

giving ordinary Europeans a first albeit quiet voice

in determining their own fate.

There has been a directly elected European parliament

in Strasbourg for nearly 40 years now.

(speaking foreign language)

All members of the parliament

proudly speak their own languages.

(speaking foreign language)

This parliament is the only directly elected

supernational institution in the world.

What is Europe?

It's a place, but it's also a utopia,

an imagined land that can't be found

on a map of the present.

But, the search for such a utopia has helped this continent

make progress over the last 70 years.

The EU parliament, for example, is a directly elected

EU institution.

Perhaps one day this parliament will elect

a European government, an EU government based on

solid, democratic principles could help Europe

solve countless crises in the future,

but let's not forget democracy is messy.

With every freedom comes a risk.

There'll never be a perfect Europe.

It's simply too diverse a place for that,

but a utopia can be a good compass

if it is anchored in strong values.

The European ideal is like the stars.

We may never reach them, but they guide us on our way.

Europeans have trodden many paths

in the course of their history.

In the 4th century the entire continent

was in turmoil all the way to the shores

of the Mediterranean.

From that point on, it would be the Germanic tribes

north of the Alps and not Rome

that determined the continent's fate.

European history has never been about a single culture.

It's a conglomeration of many cultures

that have come together and broken apart again.

Europeans' relation with one another had less to do

with harmony and unity than with competition

between tribes, cities, and religions.

I'm in Italy, a country where this continent's history

can still be experienced firsthand.

For me, the medieval city of Siena

is a Europe in miniature.

For centuries its 17 districts, the Contrade,

have formed a community within the city walls,

yet all are in competition with each other,

and once a year there's the Palio,

a horse race in which the contrade

compete against one another.

This competition is taken very seriously,

and there it is again, the old competitive spirit

that once made Europe what it became.

Everyone for themselves, the community for all,

and over there in the town hall in the 14th century

the painter Ambrogio Lorenzetti captured in a nutshell

what it means to govern a community.

He called his work The Allegory of Good and Bad Government.

In it you can see both sides of European history.

While the tyrant rules as a devil with horns and fangs,

the wise ruler lives for the peace and prosperity

of his subjects, flanked by the cardinal virtues.

But, what happens next?

How will the story continue?

Today demagogues are everywhere in Europe

keener on trumpeting nationalism

than on strengthening the community.

They would have ended up on the dark side

of Lorenzetti's depiction.

Incidentally, the cultural integration of migrants

may well have been invented here in Siena.

It's here that the first ever historically documented

language courses for foreigners were offered

to Germans who settled in the city,

and that was in the year 1588.

Internal migration has a long history in Europe.

Take the Huguenots for example.

These French Protestants were persecuted

by the Catholic majority in their home country,

and in the 17th and 18th centuries they fled

to Germany, England, Ireland,

and the English colonies in North America.

With his Edict of Potsdam, Elector Frederick William

invited tens of thousands of migrant Huguenots

to Brandenburg in 1685.

The migrants were now free to practice their religion,

and the towns where they settled

benefited from their know-how and their business sense.

Postwar Germany invited its first official guest workers,

as they were known, from Italy.

They helped Germany manage the extra workload

create by its economic revival.

Job seekers from Greece, Spain, Turkey, Morocco,

Portugal, Tunisia, and Yugoslavia followed in the 1960s,

and East Germany welcomed its own guest workers

from its socialist sister countries in Asia.

Today it's clear that there is a strong current

of migration throughout the entire European Union.

Nearly one million Europeans

move to a different country every year.

Once again, the continent is mingling and blending.

The number of immigrants from other continents

on the other hand has declined slightly.

The percentage of foreigners living in European countries

differs widely from place to place.

In some countries, migrants are naturalized

and no longer count as foreigners.

This is particularly the case for countries

with a colonial past such as France or Great Britain.

Then as now, immigration is vital

to the economic and demographic future

of the European Union.

The experience of migration has also involved

encounters with other religions.

People exchange more than just goods and labor.

They also learn about each others' cultures.

Turkey in particular, as the successor state

to the Ottoman Empire, was a gateway between East and West.

Kemal Ataturk modernized his country,

led it into independence,

and promoted progressive version of Islam.

Education was his top priority,

and today it remains the key

to successful cultural and social integration.

According to a new study, the majority of Muslim immigrants

in Western Europe are fully integrated into society

by the second generation at the latest.

They have rights and responsibilities

and the freedom to choose their own path in life.

Naturally they are an equal part of European society.

They have the same inalienable rights

as all their fellow citizens,

including the right to freely practice their religion.

But, the right to freedom of religion

ends when the freedoms of others are restricted

or called into question.

This abuse of religious freedom can take extreme forms,

as in the use of hate speech in sermons,

calls for a theocratic state

that will supersede democratic institutions,

incitement to violence or terror.

Since the early 2000s, a tiny minority of radical Islamist

have been challenging the peaceful coexistence

of the religions in Europe.

Tolerance only works

when there is agreement on basic values.

The vast majority of Muslims want nothing to do

with a radical, politicized version of Islam,

and anyone who hopes to use Europe's freedoms against it

in the name of religion should take another look

at European history.

For over 700 years Muslims ruled the Iberian peninsula

with Granada and Alhambra at the center of their empire.

They practiced a certain pragmatic tolerance.

They attracted Jewish and Christian scholars

to their academies where scholars worked together

on important projects.

The ancient writings collected by the Arabs

were translated into Latin,

making them accessible to Christian Europe

and preserving them for generations to come.

It was a golden age where ideology took a back seat,

an eloquent historical rejoinder

to the arguments of today's fundamentalists.

In Europe, both sides of the immigration process

have to prove that integration can work

regardless of where the new arrivals come from

and irrespective of their religion.

Sport and football in particular is a great example

of successful integration in practice.

(crowd cheers)

National football teams have long reflected

the process of cultural integration in Europe.

Just take a look at the players' names.

David Alaba, Mesut Ozil, Breel Embolo,

Same Khedira, or Omar Elabdellaoui,

second and third generation children of immigrants

are now playing on the national teams

of the countries where they grew up.

In Europe, as in many other parts of the world,

sport is a domain of accelerated social integration.

Diversity often becomes visible here

long before it's a reality in society at large.

(crowd sings)

You could see these teams and their national anthems

as an anticipatory embodiment of Europe's future.

It's no wonder that Europe has become a dream destination

for so many people.

From December 2010 a wave of protests and revolutions

swept through many Arab countries, including Egypt.

Frustration at the corruption and repression

of autocratic regimes had reached boiling point.

Here in Cairo as in Tunisia and Libya,

the people overthrew their authoritarian rulers,

but the revolutionary fervor of the Arab spring

has since all but dissipated.

In Africa too there are many crisis zones.

Sudan, Mali, Somalia,

many countries on the African continent

are menaced by terror and constant uncertainty.

It's no wonder that many see no future for themselves

or that they're forced to flee from imminent danger.

Across North Africa in Jordan and in Turkey

there are up to 6.6 million refugees

waiting to continue their journey.

They want to travel on to prosperous countries

where their human rights will be respected,

including their right to asylum.

The word asylum has been around for 3,500 years.

It comes from the ancient Greek,

and it refers to the protection of people and things

that are in danger.

The ancient Temple of Apollo at Delphi

and other sanctuaries were places where asylum was granted,

and here on the Capitoline Hill in Rome

Romulus is said to have established an asylum.

He was one of the two legendary brothers.

The other was Remus who, raised by a she-wolf,

became the founders of the ancient city of Rome.

Europe is still struggling to find the right approach

to asylum.

Simply throwing open the gates is not the answer.

Shutting them forever won't work either,

but a common solution must be found.

(dramatic music)

Asylum is an old European tradition.

In the 17th century when a quarter of a million

French Protestants, the Huguenots,

were forced to flee from France

they found sanctuary in neighboring countries.

After the French Revolution there were also many

political refugees who were granted asylum.

Today more than 200 years later,

the whole of Europe faces the challenge

of accepting refugees from other parts of the world.

In the name of the very human rights

that Europeans once postulated and took for granted,

a look back into history can be illuminating

for all Europeans.

Nationalists have seen gains at the polls

throughout Europe.

Immigration is a topic that unites them all.

They want to create a fortress Europe,

closed to the outside world and without a true union

behind its walls.

Europe won't even be able to begin

tackling its many problems until its countries

finally manage to work together to speak with one voice,

but Europe is divided.

Some are even beginning to wonder if the EU will collapse.

In June 2016, the British decided to leave the Union.

Many people, myself included,

believe that this is the wrong decision

because the European Union offers a strong form

of protection and solidarity in an unpredictable world,

but whether or not the UK remains in the EU,

the relationship between the two will remain a vital one

for both sides.

The important thing is for the United Kingdom and Europe

to remain partners as Winston Churchill would have wanted.

The 23rd of June 2016 is a date that no European

is likely to forget anytime soon,

the day on which the United Kingdom opted to say goodbye

to the European Union.

It was a wrenching decision for this country.

Some welcomed the departure

as a return to sovereignty and independence.

Others feared that the nation would retreat

into a self-imposed isolation to warm its hands

over the memory of a glorious past.

It felt and feels like a new and unprecedented turn

in this country's fortunes,

and yet this is the not the first Brexit.

There was another Brexit back in the year 286 AD

when the province of Britannia left the Roman Empire

which at that time, of course, united most of Europe.

Too many taxes, too much Roman feudalism.

An admiral with Welsh roots named Carausias

declared himself ruler of Britain

and led the province out of the union and into liberty.

He even had the word "libertas" embossed onto coins

bearing his likeness.

Incidentally that ancient Brexit lasted just 10 years

before the island returned to the Roman Empire.

There are many people in the UK who still dream

of the glory days of the British Empire

and want nothing to do with the EU,

but the majority of young people would prefer

to maintain their close ties to the continent.

What values do you associate with Europe then?

With democracy, equality, opportunity, yeah.

Everything that...

People feel passionately.

Down there in Brussels beats the heart

of the largest economic area in the world.

There are 500 million producers and consumers in Europe.

The European Union accounts for barely 7%

of the world's population,

but trade between the EU and the rest of the world

makes up 15% of global imports and exports.

Alongside the US and China,

the EU is one of the three biggest global players

in international trade.

All this and more is coordinated and controlled

from Brussels through the implementation

of standards and rules.

Europe has sometimes been called a gentle monster,

and there is something monstrous

about the collection of standards and norms

that Brussels imposes on the 500 million citizens of Europe.

At last count, they filled 150,000 pages of text.

The regulating bodies of the Union

do more than just stipulate the kind of lights

that Europeans can have in their living rooms.

They also cover the distance

between the bars on our backyard barbecue grills,

the way a pizza has to be baked, and the length of a banana.

It can sometimes be a bit tedious,

but nation-states also have norms.

In fact, all modern states do,

and they're all the more important

when you are a union of 28 once independent states.

As for those who are always whinging about European norms,

they should not forget that conflicts on this continent,

even quite trivial ones, used to be fought

out on the battlefield.

In a Europe without borders,

everyone has the opportunity to savor

the continent's diversity in the truest sense of the word.

Despite the plethora of EU Standards,

this continent still boasts

more than 70 different regional cuisines,

so it's perhaps surprising that when it comes

to drinking culture in Europe there are really

only two camps.

For those in Northern and Eastern Europe,

beer is the essential beverage,

while in the West and the South

most people still prefer to drink wine,

and this division has ancient roots.

The Romans cultivated the grape

and enjoyed its fermented juice.

As their legions conquered more and more territory,

wine growing and wine drinking grew increasingly popular

throughout Europe.

There was even a Roman god of wine, Bacchus.

In the territories not under Roman rule,

beer remained the beverage of choice.

2,000 years ago, the Roman historian Tacitus wrote,

"The Germanic peoples love beer above all things.

"They can endure cold and hunger, but not thirst."

And, that is still the case today.

A transnational beverage boundary still cuts

right across Europe, although it has become more fluid

in recent years.

Plenty of Europeans are happy to drink both beer and wine.

There are EU norms that apply to beer and wine as well.

In his Capitulare de villis,

Charlemagne laid out rules and regulations

for wine cultivation throughout the Frankish Empire

and stipulated around 60 herbs and spice plants

which were to be grown in the gardens of his subjects.

He seems to have invented European norms and standards,

and he even created the European currency,

the Charlemagne Denarius, an early Euro so to speak.

When the modern Euro was introduced,

it was initially greeted with Euphoria,

at least in the areas where it was in use.

The hope was that a shared currency for Europe

would bind the continent together

and make most of its citizens happy.

(dramatic music)

Then came the Euro crisis of 2009.

The Greek government was on the verge of bankruptcy.

Bail outs, aids packages, billions upon billions

were pumped into the country.

Up to this point, the Euro zone had been a currency union

without political traction,

and the way this now chronic crisis has been handled

should be a cautionary tale.

European countries exhibit very different behavior

in such situations.

Old myths and stereotypes can resurface on all sides

while other more important lessons from history

can often be forgotten.

(dramatic music)

In times of crisis, hardened attitudes can prevent people

from acting rationally.

We're easily learned into believing

that we are being manipulated by outside forces,

especially when political transparency is lacking,

but there are deep advantages to European solidarity.

(speaking foreign language)

But, isn't it true in fact that the European community

must also be a community of solidarity

whose members are prepared to share with one another?

Ultimately this means that all members

have to vouch for another member facing bankruptcy,

but this transnational solidarity is a value

many people find difficult to embrace,

particularly in the wealthy creditor countries of the EU.

(dramatic music)

The poor South and the wealthy North,

the gap between North and South in Europe

remains an unsolved problem that could

further divide the union.

In truth, the European project may work best

when we imagine it as a Europe of regions

with the nations taking the back seat.

Flamenco is a dance of contrasts

meant to express despair and rage,

but also an exuberant lust for life.

That would also be a good way to describe

the current mood in Spain

where political emotions often boil over.

(audience applauds)

(speaking foreign language)

During my travels I've often thought

maybe it really is time to found the European Union anew.

Europe will have to be strong and united

if it's to have any hope of tackling the challenges

it faces in an uncertain world,

but the continent's long history suggests

that it possesses the vitality and inventiveness

it's going to need.

(speaking foreign language)

So many Dutchmen agree totally what happened in England.

Do you know what the stars on the European flag mean?

There are precisely 12, and this number symbolizes

completeness and perfection.

For the ancient Greeks the Pantheon had 12 members,

the people of Israel had 12 tribes,

the year has 12 months, and the clock shows 12 hours.

The stars, the European stars, are also arranged

like the figures on a clock face.

The continent today faces a crucial test.

It's all or nothing.

This could be the 11th hour.

The opponents of the European project never rest.

On the contrary, spurred on by the momento of the right wing

populists, they are constantly regrouping.

Sometimes they're more radical, sometimes a little less.

Back to the nation-state, back to the past.

It's the wrong road for Europe.

But, all across the continent there are movements

aiming to highlight just how valuable

the developments of the last 60 years have been.

The movement Pulse of Europe is taking the European idea

to the streets in 140 cities and 21 EU member countries.

Their message?

Reform Europe, rethink its structures,

challenge its conventions, but don't destroy it.

Europe is waking up.

A new generation that grew up in a continent without borders

is now fighting for that continent's future.

I'm a European in Paris,

and I'm proud of Europe.

It allowed me to live in this country easily,

and I just want to fly the flag of Europe.

For me there really is no real argument

to say we want to go back to

the nation of independent states.

In Europe we need each other,

and yes, it's also important to realize

that you have both a European nationality,

but also your home nationality of your country.

More and more we're working together.

We're taking flights all over Europe,

we work across borders, so there's definitely an element.

We want to keep on doing that.

There's an immense cumulative historical momentum

to the Union's evolution.

Growing numbers of young Europeans

are willing to take a stand in support of a diverse Europe

and against the rise of nationalist populism.

They've realized what's at stake

and what Europe at its core is really about,

the Enlightenment, rule of law, democracy, human rights,

free enterprise, education, and social security.

So far, so good, but Europe will also need to change

in order to renew itself.

That much has been clear for some time

In other areas of the world they speak of Europe

as an enormous museum, and it's true that Europe

has not come even close to exhausting its potential

for self-revitalization.

This continent could have a brilliant future

if Europeans are willing to make that happen.

My journey through Europe has come to an end.

Throughout its long history, this fascinating continent

has always demonstrated an irrepressible will to change,

and today that shows no sign of slackening.

I'll be back.

(dramatic music)