In Richtung eines europäischen Patriotismus[en] 

"EU-level policymaking has lost its way," claims Chatzimarkakis. He says that the EU has set itself "too many goals without having the leading figures that are willing and able to fight for them".

To address this, the author argues that as Europeans, we need to "stand for and assess our strengths" and "examine our partnerships so as to get the best out of them". In short, "the time has come for European patriotism," Chatzimarkakis claims. 

The MEP insists that we must clearly define "our place on the global stage and the role we want to play". Whereas in the past, Europe was a model for democracy, the rule of law, human rights and societal issues, Chatzimarkakis argues that today's Europe should also aim to become the world's "bio-zone". Europe must become "home to the healthiest people and the healthiest living environment," argues the MEP. 

To live up to this ideal, Chatzimarkakis says the EU must regain its "leading position in research, advanced technologies and industry" and it must "fight harder and learn to protect its intellectual property better". The bloc must put innovation "at the top of [its] priorities to produce more advanced goods and services that can guarantee our high living standards," the MEP argues, claiming that Europeans will only be "globally competitive if we make our production methods more ecological, and convince our trading partners to do likewise". 

The first step the EU needs to take, the author says, is to "reach a general understanding that Europe's national frameworks have become too small to resolve the big questions that now confront us". His plea for European patriotism aims to "shake off the dust of nationalism and banish the political lethargy that is rooted in it". 

Doing this, Chatzimarkakis argues, necessarily brings into question the way in which democracy is exercised, as there is an "unhealthy relationship between democratically-elected politicians and the media". Both depend on one another, but both are also committed to "success rather than to truth, and success means sales for the media and votes for the politicians," he observes. 

Chatzimarkakis concludes that "we must be more self-confident, and that's why a new style of European patriotism is so badly needed".