Attached is the abbreviated text of an address given by Jürgen Habermas and published in Social Europe. He spoke at a conference with the theme given above. As he said in the very first sentence: "new ones fail me, and the Trumpian decay affecting even the core of Europe makes me seriously question my old perspectives." In his opinion the European integration process is on a dangerous downward curve and warns "You only recognise the point of no return when it's too late."
His warning merits to be read carefully. In his opinion it is in the failure of the European process of integration itself that the roots of populism and euroscepticism are to be found. In particular they are to be found in the social and human costs of the Schaüble- and Merkel-driven austerity policies.