The Beginning of the End of the EU
First it starts with the little things: the end of passport-free travel within the EU. From the Guardian:
European nations moved to reverse decades of unfettered travel across the continent when a majority of EU governments agreed the need to reinstate national passport controls amid fears of a flood of immigrants fleeing the upheaval in north Africa.
In a serious blow to one of the cornerstones of a united, integrated Europe, EU interior ministers embarked on a radical revision of the passport-free travel regime known as the Schengen system to allow the 26 participating governments to restore border controls.
Well, the border issue I can understand. And the decision hasn't been ratified by the European Parliament, which may overrule it. But it does show the hairline fractures in the EU alliance. And so does this editorial from the Financial Times:
Even as the ink is drying on Portugal’s European Union and International Monetary Fund bail-out agreement, evidence is mounting that last year’s bail-outs of Greece and Ireland have failed. Far from improving their access to the financial markets, Greece and Ireland face record borrowing costs. Notwithstanding the slightly less draconian terms of Portugal’s agreement, it will surely suffer a similar fate. The EU will try to get away with “soft” restructurings, involving a combination of longer maturities and lower interest rates. But this will not work and by 2013 there will be no viable alternative to “hard” restructurings (default), comprising debt write-downs of 50 per cent or more. Unfortunately, in the case of Greece and Portugal at least, even this will not guarantee continued membership of the euro.
The headline of the editorial is "Greece and Portugal Should Both Go Gracefully," which has a civilized ring to it. But if Greece and Portugal go, why would Ireland escape the same fate? The strength of the Euro seems to me to be based entirely on its near-universal adoption in Europe. Expelling two member countries -- which is what this would amount to -- suggests some major rumblings in the distance for the Euro, the Eurozone, and the EU in general.
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Re: The Beginning of the End of the EU
They learn bail-outs from us. We try to import socialized medicine and punitive taxation from them. Why can't Europe and the U.S. stick to exchanging more successful ideas, such as BMWs and Apple Laptops.
Oct '10
Re: The Beginning of the End of the EU
Considering the history of those countries in the EU it should be of no large suprise that this would be the outcome. The question being, if the EU members have resisted totalitarin governance in the past.... why bend now ? There will be a reversal of the EU in future...
May '10
Re: The Beginning of the End of the EU
Germans demanding papers from the French. Just like old times. Happy days.
Jan '11
Re: The Beginning of the End of the EU
I thank the heavens this is happening now and not ten years hence, when it's possible my country would have been a member. It's not a pretty sight, but at least I'm looking at it from outside.
May '11
Re: The Beginning of the End of the EU
If the Schengen border agreement and the unified currency are so central to the European project, then it's amazing how quickly people started talking about abandoning them when faced with a few challenges. Could be some big sales in vending machines and border barrier construction there over the next ten years.
Apr '11
Re: The Beginning of the End of the EU
The EU always appeared to me as shoe-horned together. There may have been some logic in more regional groupings, such as the northern, germanic countries having open borders and a common currency with each other. Including all of the continent is too much. Europe is too diverse culturally, politically and economically for that to work.
May '10
Re: The Beginning of the End of the EU
The writers of Yes, Minister invented the fictional Napoleon Prize, "awarded to the politician that did the most for European unity" (Hitler not included).
Re: The Beginning of the End of the EU
Exactly.
Incidentally, Denise, I commented on your thread yesterday about Roseanne. It's slipped off the front page so I thought I'd alert you!
Mar '11
Re: The Beginning of the End of the EU
The whole thing reminds me of Sir Humphrey's description to Hacker of why the British entered the EU -- to prevent unity. Masters of diplomacy, really.
Mar '11
Re: The Beginning of the End of the EU
"Federal Europe" was always a very stupid idea. Federations have to have something in common besides being on the same continent. Finns have about as much in common with the Portuguese as Japanese do with Arabs. And sooner or later, Frenchmen weren't going to stand for not being Frenchmen anymore. Same for Italians, Poles, Germans, etc. The only way the EU continues is if it's forced on populations (and this would be the preference of those in power), or if it becomes more of a confederation-lite, with members able to drop out at will.
Edited on May 18, 2011 at 7:51pmMar '11
Re: The Beginning of the End of the EU
The end of the EU also strikes a blow at the idea of a global federation of nations which the EU would have been just one sector. A global megalopolis centrally controlled by a technocratic Übermensch.
Oct '10
Re: The Beginning of the End of the EU
I think the EU, along with the Euro, will continue to decline in importance and influence. The EU came into being not at the request of the citizens of the countries affected, but because elite politicians and bureaucrats thought it best. Its parliament is elected, but powerless. Power resides with the bureaucrats in Brussels. Its constitution was not approved by its citizens. It created a uniform monetary policy, but not a uniform fiscal policy, hence the debt problems with Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain. It did not arrange to control its borders, but left that to individual countries, hence the flood of immigrants through Greece and Italy. It agreed on free trade for manufactured items, but supports its farmers with huge subsidies. It did nont create a uniform official language. It did not establish a unified armed forces to defend itself but relied on the United States because the armies of individual Euro countries are more like police forces than armies. Europe is not recognized internationally as an entity and their attempt to create a “president” and a “secretary of state” has been totally ineffective. None of these attributes are those of a successful nation or federation.
Edited on May 19, 2011 at 5:34am