Greek Debt Crisis Highlights Fractures in European Union
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Version 0 of 1. LONDON — For the European Union, the thrill is gone. A triumph of statecraft and imagination of the last century, a response to barbarism and devastation, the union is now beset with division and criticism from every side. Its institutions are too weak to manage such varied economies, and its ambitions are undermined by a chaotic world of terrorism and powerful traditional states. The vicious battle over Greece at times seemed more like a case of domestic violence than a display of fraternal solidarity. A united Germany’s size and economic power have altered the French- German relationship and set Europe spinning at very different speeds, moving further away from the “ever closer union” established in the 1957 Treaty of Rome, the union’s founding document. But for all the criticism Germany received for its treatment of Greece, Berlin was hardly alone. Other countries, tired of Greek posturing, were happy to hide behind Chancellor Angela Merkel. The Dutch, Finns, Slovenes, Slovaks and Balts shared much of the German position, and countries that had accepted significant austerity under pressure, like Spain and Portugal, were unwilling to give Greece a pass. It is noteworthy that there was little patience for Greece from the newer members of the European Union. Even those most sympathetic to Greece, like France and Italy, whose leaders spoke in lofty terms about European unity, had strong national interests at play. France and Italy struggle with some of the same problems as Greece: low growth, youth unemployment, rigid labor markets, bloated state bureaucracies and social welfare systems too generous now, when people live longer, to be supported by current revenue. Both countries have huge debt burdens and would be hit hard by a Greek default. And neither country wants a German-style eurozone with rigid rules on deficits and debt. It all leads one to wonder if the euro is the instrument that shatters the European Union rather than enhances it. Still, remember the history. An experiment in shared sovereignty, intended to banish the possibility of another Franco- German war, the European Union grew to include 28 countries, encompassing 508 million people and a collective gross domestic product of over $18 trillion. Under the American nuclear umbrella, the bloc moved adroitly to offer former dictatorships like Greece, Spain and Portugal a democratic future. When the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Union collapsed, Brussels embraced the newly liberated states. But the union grew wide, not deep, failing to create institutions flexible and democratic enough to cope with countries very different from the original six members, creating a public backlash. It was the French themselves who rejected a European constitution in 2005. Some similar ideas were later incorporated into the Lisbon Treaty, but the 2005 defeat marked the collapse of popular support for further European integration. Today, the union is challenged from the inside by economic disparities, euroskeptic parties that resent the loss of sovereignty to Brussels bureaucrats, and its own complicated rules, which hinder quick agreement on urgent issues. From the outside, Europe is in relative decline, tested by a Russia that wants to overturn the post-Cold War order; by a China that wants to set its own trade rules; by a chaotic Middle East and North Africa producing terrorism and large flows of migrants; and by a frustrated United States, which wants a less self-absorbed global partner. But there remains much to admire, from generous foreign aid to Balkan reconciliation. And as Iran signed a crucial agreement on Tuesday limiting its nuclear ambitions, it is worth remembering that the European Union led the way. Europeans began the negotiations with Iran in 2003, an initiative of the “E.U.-3” — France, Germany and Britain — soon led by the union’s first foreign-policy chief, Javier Solana. While the United States inevitably dominated the endgame, the deal would not have been done without the work of the European Union. |