Glad och inspirerad av detta, skrev jag så här i ett email till kollegorna i enheten när jag var tillbaks på kontoret (något förkortat):
Colleagues - we should all recognise the greatness of this news, and go celebrate!
I think the EU is a most worthy winner, given its great success as a peace project – in fact turning the most violent and war-ridden continent ever seen to one were we fight over policies and budgets instead of land and power, using arguments instead of weapons, in negotiating rooms instead of battlefields. The very idea of this development, in only in a couple of decades, must have been regarded as utterly unrealistic and naïve back in the 1945. And despite all EU's shortcomings and the frustration we may feel with its heavy and hierarchic procedures, tiring infighting, endless negotiations and imperfect solutions, it is probably the about the best we could ever expect to have at this point in time, given the difficult circumstances we have faced historically and still are facing today (albeit in a very different form).
So let's all go home and raise our glasses tonight (if not already the afternoon in our offices) in honouring both ourselves and other hard-working colleagues in EU institutions, as contributors and key stakeholders in this successful European peace project!
"Dear colleagues,
It was with great emotion that I received the news of the award of the Noble Peace Prize to the European Union. It is a great honour for the European Union to be awarded the 2012 Nobel Peace prize by the Nobel Peace prize committee.
I am particularly proud of the role that the European Commission has played in shaping a new and strong Europe. All the people that have worked for this institution over the last 60 years can see this as their award, for the commitment and work that they have delivered on behalf of Europe. You can all be proud today.
It is justified recognition for a unique project that works for the benefit of its citizens and also for the benefit of the world.
We must never forget that at its origins the European Union brought together nations emerging from the ruins of the devastating 2nd World War and united them in a project for peace, built on supranational institutions representing the common European interest.
The European Union, starting with the European Community, has reunified countries split by the Cold War, and made it around values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, justice, the rule of law and respect for human rights.
Through its transformative power, the European Union was able, starting from six countries to reunite almost all the European continent. These values: freedom, democracy, justice, the rule of law and respect for human rights are the ones that people all over the world aspire to. These are also the values that the European Union promotes in order to make the world a better place for all. We are proud that the European Union is the world's largest provider of development assistance and humanitarian aid and is as also at the forefront of global efforts to protect our planet through the fight against climate change and to promote global public goods.
The award today by the Nobel Committee shows that in these difficult times the European Union remains an inspiration for countries and people all over the world and that the international community needs a strong European Union.
The Nobel Peace Prize Committee and the international community are now sending a very important message to Europe that the European Union is something very precious, that we should cherish it for the good of Europeans and for the good of the entire world.
José Manuel Barroso"
Man glömmer alltför lätt att EU från början är ett jättelikt fredsprojekt - och ett synnerligen framgångsrikt sådant.
Likaledes är kanske inte sambandet mellan EU:s miljöarbete och världsfreden inte jättetydligt för alla. Men det finns där, tveklöst. Miljösamarbete är en avancerad och konstruktiv samarbetsform som syftar till att skydda vår hälsa och miljö, och det är en viktig del av det komplicerade system av policyutveckling, lagar, regler och rättsprocesser i EU som i praktiken cementerar freden och omöjliggör krig.
Idag kan både jag och andra EU-kollegor - liksom alla dem som har stött och stöder EU-samarbetet i grunden - sträcka på sig: Vi gör en insats för världsfreden. En bortglömd men ack så viktig det av min gröna vardag som eurokrat på kommissionens miljödirektorat.
Inlägg
