In 2013 Malosse was deeply involved in the Ukraine crisis. In December he went to Kiev, where he was the first president of EU institutions who spoke in Euromaidan. Malosse also helped to bring Euromaidan leaders to Brussels and invited the famous Ukrainian singer, Eurovision Song Contest winner and political activist Ruslana twice to the plenary sessions.
Henri Malosse, member and former President of European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), was also one of the first European state officials to come to Lithuania after it regained independence in 1990. After that, he visited the country numerous times as a visiting professor of Kaunas University of Technology (KTU), where he recently gave a public lecture on economic and social development.
From a young age you began exploring the cultures of Eastern Europe. Why was this region of your interest?
There is no specific reason, actually. I was simply curious and I was always fascinated by the history of the World War II and the 20th century.
When I was young, I became very interested in the German reconciliation process. While living in South France, I was studying German and traveling there quite often. When Germany was divided into two countries I was particularly interested in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), from which my attention went further to the East.
Did Lithuania catch your attention as well?
When I was a student in Poland in 1976, I wanted to travel and see Vilnius. I went to the embassy of former Soviet Union in Warsaw and asked for permission to go to Vilnius – I didn’t get it. Instead, they suggested I visit Moscow.
I first came to Lithuania in the first years of its regained independence. I then met the former MEP Vytautas Landsbergis, who at the time was the leader of the country. I am happy to say that I was one of the first officials from abroad to come to Lithuania and support its movement of liberation.
After that, in 2013 as a president of EESC I participated in the third Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius.
You state that the future of Europe is social and economic development and you talked about it in a public lecture at KTU. What are the main reasons that make you think so?
Two years ago I announced this statement as a president of EESC and I still stand by it today. The reason why people want to join the EU is because they expect prosperity: more opportunities, better jobs and conditions of living. If the EU is able to deliver that, it will keep the confidence of its population.
Today I can’t say that the EU is promoting economic and social development enough. The EU capacity to bring wealth to its citizens is a fundamental key to the people. The second biggest thing that they expect today is security, especially after what has been going on in Europe: refugee crisis, acts of terrorism.
The citizens expect economic and social development as well as security to be delivered by the EU. If they don’t get that, they might start questioning the benefits of being a member in this organisation.
Is it true that you were one of the first EU officials to come and publicly speak in Euromaidan in Ukraine?
Yes, I was deeply involved in the Ukraine crisis in 2013. In December I was in Euromaidan, where I was the first president of EU institutions who spoke there. I am glad that I was able to help bring Euromaidan leaders to Brussels. I also invited the famous Ukrainian singer, Eurovision Song Contest winner and political activist Ruslana to all of the plenary sessions.
For the personal engagement in the Crimean crisis my name ended up on the black list of the Russian government, which means I am not allowed to go to Russia for 5 years.
For two years you were the President of the European Economic and Social Committee. What ideas did you and your team promoted and successfully implemented?
In my presidency I tried to get the EU closer to the European citizens. I visited all the member states. Actually, the first country I’ve gone to was Lithuania, where I met President Dalia Grybauskaitė, members of Lithuanian Government and the younger generation.
Each time I have visited EU member states I tried to transmit expectations of the people to EU institutions. Apart from doing the regular EESC activities, which are delivering advisory opinions, various documents, reports, as a president of the Committee, I encouraged the launch of various projects, such as Europe Tomorrow, a platform to contact citizens and highlight social innovation in Europe.
The goal behind the projects that we initiated are related to the needs of the people, e. g. projects that aim to stop food waste, deliver a network of smart cities or smart islands. The last-mentioned project is of a certain relevance to me because my origins are in the island of Corsica.
Do you think it is important for EU officials to be closer to the people? Why?
This is the biggest challenge of the EU today. To my belief, what the Europeans want and expect are not normalization or legislation – it’s economic and social development, wealth, prosperity, good quality of life and security.
Unfortunately, today the civil society does not have a good channel to express these views and feel excluded from the EU. They see the organization as very technocratic. As I have mentioned before, my task as a president of EESC was to bring the voice of European citizens to Brussels.
EESC is a tool to bring the civil society closer to the decision makers of the EU, who assume that they know what people need. Today the organisation is not citizen-driven, it’s system-driven.
Can you give an example?
Lisbon treaty provides the possibility, which is called European Citizens Initiative. It works like this: if seven countries can collect over a million signatures, the citizens’ proposal can be brought forward to the European Commission. For instance, the proposed initiative Water is a Human Right, which suggested legislation implementing the human right to water and sanitation, gathered nearly 2 million signatures.
Over the past years 51 proposal has been pushed forward. 18 of them have been accepted as citizens’ initiatives and just 3 gathered over million signatures. All these three initiatives were neglected by the Commission.
How important to the European economy are the young entrepreneurs and their start-ups, NGOs and various associations?
They are very important. What young entrepreneurs need are support, security and environment which is suitable for working. Co-working space is one of the best solutions for their cooperation and future success. I think the activities of these young entrepreneurs should be supported not by subsidies, but alternative finance like crowdfunding and by facilities, like common space.
The social economy is an emerging new sector in the economic system. What is the role of social economy in strengthening democracy, local and regional development and creating new jobs?
In some EU countries, e. g. in France, social economy represents around 10 per cent of the economy. I think in Lithuania it is about 3-4 per cent. These numbers show improvement.
Social economy consists of foundations, non-profit organisations, associations and cooperatives. The latter have a rather bad image in connection to the Soviet times, but in fact cooperatives can be very efficient. I think that today, especially the young generation should take interest in cooperative business which enables people to work together, rather than running a venture capital business.
Another concept of social economy is to provide social services. It is complementary to the private sector and an alternative way to create new activities, jobs and markets.
You are a visiting professor in various European universities. Do you think that the EU is paying enough attention to the problems related to education?
The EU is not paying enough attention to the education today. During the years of my presidency of EESC we launched a project and introduced a concept of European system of universities. When we think about education, we still think very ‘national’. Of course, universities have relationships and connections but they are not all European.
Also, EU should be more involved in the primary education. After the age of 10, kids begin to shape their own vision of the world. At that time we should introduce them to the common history, geography or other studies, present more exchange opportunities and open more bilingual schools.
A year ago, in one of your publications you expressed hope that 2015 be the year of the Wind of Change in the EU. Was it indeed the year of change?
It was my hopeful wish but to be honest – it didn’t happen. I continue to think that Europe needs radical change, simplification and to focus on security, education, economic and social development. Today, expectations of the citizens concerning economic and social development as well as security, are not equal to what EU is delivering.
Today approximately one-third members at the European Parliament are Eurosceptic. I am afraid that if nothing changes, after couple of years one-third will become two-thirds.
For the years to come I still hope that EU leaders will understand the necessity of the Wind of Change in the EU.
