June 05, 2005

EU Backlash Continues

Unhappy with their recession and high prices, Italians are considering going back to the lira.

With elections due next spring and the nation in recession, Italy's politicians are becoming increasingly sensitive to public anger over economic difficulties and likely to be worried about any anti-European backlash in the wake of "no" votes from France and the Netherlands over the new European Union constitution...

"I have no nostalgia for the lira. But from the citizens a cry for help is reaching our ears," [Labor Minister Roberto] Maroni said. "The euro is the legitimate child of the European model which, with worry, we're watching fail," he was quoted as saying.

Whether or not they do it, only time will tell. And of course, even if Italy goes through with it, it may only be a temporary measure.

It seems that Tony Blair is also giving up "on Europe as an issue worth fighting for." Bravo, Mr. Blair.

In other EU news, both Jacques Chirac and Gerhard Schroeder want the other European nations to move on with the ratification process, despite depressing "no" votes from both France and Holland.

French voters who felt the charter imposed "ultra liberal" economic values and worried about losing jobs and Dutch voters wary about losing influence in an expanded bloc, have sparked a bout of soul-searching among European leaders over how to reconnect with an increasingly disillusioned public.

As I have commented before, the major problem with the concept of the EU is trying to cram all of the different values, cultures, and idiosyncracies of each individual country into a "one size fits all" category. Slicing Europe (and part of the Middle East) into pieces after both World Wars, using lines drawn on a map with no thought as to regional differences, didn't work either.

Some worry that, if Europe doesn't unite under an EU umbrella, that the countries might go back to their feuding (and possibly warring) ways. That's always possible...no one can predict the future. But it's obvious that Europe, much less the rest of the world, is ready for a Star Trek-type civilization, where one central government controls all of the world's countries and everyone lives in harmony.

Sorry, UN-fanatics, but loyalty to one's country still means a lot for many of us, both here in the U.S. and abroad. And that, in my opinion, is why the concept of the EU is falling apart.

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