Twenty seven countries of Europe accord to the alleged European Union (EU). They cover Germany, the UK, France, Italy and Spain. All of them are in the affliction of an bread-and-butter crisis. But appropriate in the average of Europe, there is a baby country which is not a affiliate of the EU yet is accomplishing rather able-bodied - Switzerland. Why are all its bigger neighbours in trouble? There is a simple answer:
The ascendant countries of the EU accept accustomed their dream of rivalling the USA as a able federal accompaniment to dark them to economic, autonomous and political reality. They accept taken their eyes off the ball.
The name of the bold at the foundation of the EEC (European Bread-and-butter Community, forerunner to the EU) was bread-and-butter cooperation amid free absolute nations. The nations of Europe allege English, Spanish, German, French and Italian and the languages of abounding abate countries. And they accept assorted systems of government. So you cannot actualize a alone affectionate nation like the United States of America just by sitting down and autograph a European constitution. But this is what France and Germany accept approved to do - they accept created a European Parliament (EP) which aims to alter centuries-old civic parliaments. But it does not work. The humans of Britain, for example, alone become acquainted that it exists if they get a election cardboard allurement them to accept their "MEP" from a account of candidates, few if any of whom are accepted to them. The assembly for the elections is small. A United States of Europe (USE) may be a reasonable aspiration, but alone on a time-scale of abounding decades, one baby footfall at a time, responding to autonomous demand, not imposed on afraid peoples.
Not annoyed with the cardboard European Parliament (which absurdly and expensively meets in two place, Brussels and Strasbourg), they accept created a European Central Coffer (ECB) to baby-sit a new "federal" currency, the euro. Of the present 27 affiliate states of the EU, 17 alone their civic currencies for the euro. It was meant to be addition footfall appear a federal Europe, but they accept put the barrow (a alone currency) afore the horse (democratic ambition for federation). The aftereffect is an bread-and-butter and political crisis.
This was foreseeable. How could you apprehend a alone bank, the ECB, to assure the alone civic interests of 17 altered countries? Afore the amalgamation of currencies, anniversary country had its own Central Coffer which cooperated with its civic government to adapt the bill according to the bread-and-butter interests of that country. That ability has now gone and we see the adverse aftereffect in the present Euro Crisis. The interests of Germany and of Greece are in opposition. Germany accomplished abhorrent aggrandizement in the 1920s and is bound never to let any such affair appear to them again. So they assert that the Greek government accept to antithesis its account by acid jobs and pensions, behindhand of the political consequences. But Greece is already experiencing accessible protests adjoin the cuts and wants the ECB to appear to its rescue. At present there is deadlock. In the old days, Greece could accept attenuated the drachma to become added aggressive and get growing again. Now they allotment their bill with Germany. The EU's band-aid to the botheration seems to be to alter Greece's ahead absolute government and let EU commissioners acquaint them what they accept to do.