The European Problem

Most do not consider the EU as a state, this is true, we deal mainly with a common market and collaboration on various levels, most of the time economical, political and social. It is not a state in the traditional sense, not even a federation, but things slowly evolve in the idea of a federation based on the U.S.A. model.

Politically, there are two main directions, the interguvernamentalists and the federalists. The first category is caracteristic to France and Britain, do not forget that the French people rejected the EU reforms in 2005 through a referendum, and the British even now have the pound, I will not go into details now. As we see, these interguvernamentalists go on believing that the European project is purely a collaboration between states, with a clearly defined and minimal interference in internal affairs. At the opposite pole are the Federalists, largely the rest of Europe, which rely on an increased level of cooperation, possibly leading to a federation with a single global voice.

There are problems on both sides, in the first case the EU becomes useless, and in the second differences of opinion can halt progress or even lead to conflict. Economic problems generate intense debate, we now again make two camps, those who want an economy "directed" this is the French model, and the market economy of laissez faire which is the British model. These differences lead to absurd decisions, the desire for economic reform without drastic job and salary cuts. The French government often supports the local industry in violation of certain european regulations and five-year plans which aim at great things are contrary to a free economy. Defense is another problem area, to take one example, the EU relation to Russia, the Baltic states, Poland and Romania have opinions different from countries like France or Germany, these differences lead to ineffective decisions or even lack of cooperation, remember the Russian-Georgian conflict and the European officials ”sedated” intervention.

From the outset the problems Europe faces are at most postponed while the underlying architecture is rotten, unless they decide to reform the danger of collapse is near. It is sad to see a potentially great state fall before it is even born.