I MIGHT sound xenophobic, but I am glad at the recent signs of disintegration of the European Union. I have never been in favour of a strong Europe because that symbolises a new round of neo-colonialism and Eurocentricism; something the colonised world would not like to contend with again, though the imperial agenda of the Empire is implicit in the very processes of globalisation. European well-being does not imply the well-being of minorities and other nations outside it.

The recent referendum in France and Netherlands is the biggest crisis to engulf the European Union. With the French "non" and the Dutch "nee", the general disenchantment with the European constitution is writ large on the future of an integrated Europe and the consequent negative effects on the power of the Euro. Final breaks have been put on the process of European integration which now stands hindered. The governing political leaders face an uprising not only in France and the Netherlands but also in Germany and Italy, leading to a deepening crisis for the 25-member European Union. The debacle has occurred not only because of the mistrust of the bureaucratic elites who live under the illusion that they know what is best for their countrymen, but also because of economic stagnation; Europe has lagged economically for the last 15 years since Maastricht.........

Suspicion and failure prevail all over Europe owing to a sense of fear at the prospect of a shared future at the enormous cost of sacrificing national sovereignty which will be fully subsumed in a larger vision of a united Europe. National and European bureaucracies continue to behave undemocratically and the citizens are well aware of the important issues of unemployment, outsourcing, pollution, tradition and values. This is not to say that the elite leadership of Europe is not aware of these important problems confronting Europe. Public opinion is demanding and knows what it wants. And when no efforts are made by the leadership to convince the voters, any amount of structural changes will not help........

It is hard to find a medium between common interest and national sovereignty. Europe has to finally go into a protracted spell of introspection.


Whither European unity?
SHELLEY WALIA
[excerpts]

http://www.hindu.com/mag/2005/06/26/stories/2005062600050100.htm