euro|topics - Francisco Sarsfield Cabral

20/11/2008

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Cabral, Francisco Sarsfield

2 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.

Público - Portugal | 22/10/2007

The lack of democracy in the mini-treaty

While the 27 member states adopted the mini-treaty on Saturday, October 20th in Lisbon, Francisco Sarsfield Cabral, considers that "though we can be glad that the treaty exists, the way it was 'sold' to public opinion is deplorable. The rallying cry is against referendums. I don't think that a referendum is the only or best form of democratic expression. The problem is that, in this case, the defiance of a referendum is part of a process aimed at misleading citizens. ... In Portugal, the European project has never been offered up to public consultation. As a European, I regret this. ... The growing abstention in European elections and the Eurobarometre surveys are clear signs of disenchantment. To build Europe without its citizens is to take a one way ticket to disaster."

Público - Portugal | 30/07/2007

The EU should develop its military power

Francisco Sarsfield Cabral considers that the EU's military weakness limits its international action. "Europeans spend half the percentage of the GDP that Americans do. And they have not harmonised their military equipment. There is still non common market for the European defence industry. The EU is proud, and rightly so, of its 'soft power', i.e. its capacity to influence countries through the mere prospect of a future admission to the club. It has used this to incite eastern countries to reform and Turkey to abolish the death sentence. However, without 'hard' power, the EU doesn't bear much weight on the international scene. ... Having been spared any war for over 60 years (except for the conflicts in former Yugoslavia), Europeans don't see that the world has yet to attain Kant's 'perpetual peace'. Thus, they are undervaluing the role of the armed forces."

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