The fundamental, long neglected matters of Government and Opposition in the Union are not easily resolved. Nor was that my intention; this book is not a manifesto. I did, however, after a decade of improvisation, want to offer a new perspective on ways of addressing these issues. The events-politics that the Union is learning to engage in under the pressure of crises takes it a long way from its origins in rules-politics. The realization has dawned that the new Europe needs to be in a position to act. Only then can it step into the future with self-confidence and show itself on the world stage. As long as executive power in the Union is continuing to develop – and in light of historical necessity and political determination there is every sign that it is – the Opposition too will find new and, we can hope, better ways of effectively making its voice heard. We have seen an unexpectedly large number of lines of thought along which public dissent can be ascertained and organized. Opposition can contribute to the Union’s set-up of the vital functions of balance, changeover, vigilance and dissent, with the result that the public experiences “Europe” not just as driven by technocratic necessity but ultimately as an outcome of choices freely made.

Europe’s new politics cannot exist without new openness. The contrary voices and loud mouths of recent years have an important part to play: they make tough political choices and dilemmas visible to the European public that has poured in en masse, to all those people who to their own surprise suddenly find themselves in the public gallery of the political theatre. In doing so they break through the sometimes dispiriting logic of depoliticization. The public battle of words enables viewers and voters to see the present-day freedom in which we are creating our future.

Here lies a special task for the media, too, indispensable as they are in giving shape to that public realm, in connecting politics and people.