The European Union is an ideal of peace. I think we
have forgotten too many times about this.
 |
| Burkineau, Poland |
The
European Union is an ideal of peace. I think we've forgotten too many times
about this. Europe has lived a historic period of peace since 1945, with some
regional exceptions. When we complain about the European directives, the limits
to deficit and indebtedness, the mobility or the rules of competition and the
market, we may be right or wrong, but we must not forget the fortune that is
peace.
Without
peace we question the civilizational developments achieved, the economic
development, the health, the education, the culture, etc. This, in addition to
the suffering costs for the populations, with greater focus, for the
poorest and most vulnerable.
Peacekeeping
requires dialogue and sharing. Negotiation and respect for the other and for
the differences. And we are all responsible! We are responsible when we let
them decide for us, when we do not participate continuously in the social and
political life of our communities, when we do not inform ourselves about the
reasoning of the decisions that involve or affect us, when we only look at our
individual and immediate interest without considering the collective and what
is sustainable over time.
That
is why when I look at recent "developments" in several countries,
with very little europeism on the left and on the right, based on the
exploitation of fears and / or dissatisfactions, I am not afraid for prosperity
or for having to share with those who have nothing and are looking for a safer
world to live in (far from wars and conflicts), or I am not afraid for the
standardization of some rules ... I fear for freedom and for peace.
European
construction it's a welfare, present in our lives. So present that we forget him
as we forget the air we breathe, even when we lack it. However, the European Union
is a human construction, imperfect, and needs to be improved. More participated
and genuinely more inclusive and promoter of the rights and duties of its
member states and its citizens. But that depends on whom? It depends on us all.
With
different responsibilities, depending on the roles we play. But it concerns all
of us. And we have no excuses to say, as a solution, when we do not like
something that we see around us and that affects us: stop all this (European
Union) because it does not serve us.
We
Psychologists, as well as citizens, as professionals, try to contribute to the
European construction effort. One of the ways is through EFPA (European Federation of Psychologists Associations), representing more than 300,000
psychologists in the European space (36 countries), for 2 years presided over
by a Portuguese, Telmo Mourinho Baptista.
We
create partnerships, try to gather synergies, learn from each other's
experiences, promoting good professional practices at European level for all
consumers of psychology services in this region of the world. EFPA has created
EUROPSY, a diploma that recognizes professionals' competences to facilitate
mobility in the European space, and that the OPP will soon make available to
Portuguese psychologists.
It is
a small contribution to networking, to dialogue and the consolidation of
relationships between people, professionals and different countries, of a
common geographic space with common interests. It is also a very small
contribution, for a greater good, peace.
Published in portuguese language in the Sábado online magazine 28/04/2017.
