The current crisis over the euro has deep roots in the imbalances between north and south, rich and poor, export-led and service-driven economies, tied together by a currency but few rules, and those rarely enforced.
A fix will require fundamental changes in the functioning of the bloc, with more interference in the workings of sovereign states. There would need to be a fiscal union, with a treasury and a finance minister capable of intervening in national budgets, and more unified tax and pension policies. But it is far from clear that the European Union can gather itself to take these fateful steps away from nationalist identities to a truly European model.
“We are today confronted by the greatest challenge our union has known in its entire history,” said José Manuel Barroso, the head of the European Commission. “It is a financial, economic and social crisis. But also a crisis of confidence ”” in our leadership, in Europe itself, in our capacity to find solutions.”
The idea of ceding more power to federal Europe is appalling. Most British people have got absolutely no idea who their MEPs are (there are multi-member constituencies, hence the reference in the plural to MEPs, Members of the European Parliament). In the US you have a pretty strong idea who your Congressman/woman is, and hold that person to account. Apart from electing them in elections with risible turn-outs, we have no hold over our MEPs who have little discernible link with the regions they represent. And even the MEPs, when they get to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, have no, I repeat no authority over the non-elected Executive of the European Commission. In short, the EU is run by a self-perpetuating oligarchy, beyond electoral recall or influence, except the influence of lobbyists. If the EU were indeed to become like the USA in terms of a representative democracy, it would be worth considering. But the present arrangement is beyond defending.