Only catastrophes lead to the sharing of sovereignty

Sir, John McClintock, in his compelling letter “Food for all – with shared sovereignty” (August 9), makes two important, interrelated points that need to be stressed more often by the media as a reminder to policy makers concerning what is both necessary and possible.One is that sovereignty sharing along the lines already practised by member states of the EU will be necessary to develop the kind of global governance that will be appropriate for solving complex problems that no one nation or international organisation can address on its own; for example, global food security and climate change. The second point is that, despite the existential crises it currently faces, the EU has been a boon not only for Europeans but also for the “rest” as well.The problem, however, is that further sovereignty sharing will most likely not occur unless preceded by catastrophic crises within and beyond the eurozone. Examples include food riots in cities worldwide due to climate change-related drought driving up food prices, which will make the disturbances of 2007-08 and last year’s London riots pale in significance.

 

This scenario is not so far-fetched given that the US supplies 35 per cent of corn worldwide and the current drought has destroyed one-sixth of America’s corn crop. Resulting price increases, coupled and interacting with other factors (for example conflicts, droughts and shortages elsewhere), could lead to the kind of global instability that represents a palpable wake-up call for policy makers.

It was, after all, a catastrophic crisis that brought the EU (and the UN) into existence in the first place!