European Disunion

Volume 2, Issue 22- June 3-9, 2011

International Tribune

What a mess!  Chaos seems to loom all over the major capitals of Europe.  From Athens to Lisbon, from Madrid to Berlin, from Dublin to Rome. Europeans are angry and frustrated with the current state of their union.  If not a national financial default, it is the fear of nuclear Armageddon, and now, the latest, a killer cucumber outbreak is sweeping across the continent.  Fraternité is being tested.  Can they find solutions as one union?  I am not sure.  How can they all get along?  

Greece, Portugal and Ireland defaulted last year and required a huge loan and austerity packages from their wealthier neighbors.  The bail-out package started in May 2010 at 110 billion Euros for Greece and followed by 85 billion Euros for Ireland in November.  The domino effect continued and, this year, a rescue package was also provided to Portugal in the amount of 78 billion Euros last month.  The sovereign deficits outweigh chances for prosperity in these countries for the next coming years.  Unemployment is also soaring in double digits, with Spain leading at an incredible 29%.   Maybe Spain is the next one to default and another rescue packages will be required.  So far, the government of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is still hanging on- by a slim thread - with desperate measures to calm its population down from staging a real revolution.  Spain’s frustrated and angry youth cannot find jobs. There are ominous signs that they are being inspired by the Arab Spring.  And apart from countries defaulting in the EU, the question of keeping the Euro as the continent’s official currency is in serious doubt.   Withdrawing from the use of a single currency is a big political blow.  This is a real bad sign that perhaps a federation of countries may not be the best recipe to a united European continent. 

The European dream to be one united continent started right after World War II.  By 1957, it had its first step when the Treaty of Rome was signed forming the European Economic Community which gave way to the current EU after the Maastricht Treaty was approved in 1993.  In 2002, the Euro became the official currency of its first 12 members- with some exceptions - notably the United Kingdom - which decided to keep their own currency.  Membership is not very easy.   Aspiring nations must meet its stringent criteria of stable economy with sound democratic principles.   Today, there are 27 members and it is continuing to expand.   

The current Euro zone crisis has become a rag-tag dispute between its rich members.  Economic giants such as France and Germany see fraternité in different lights.   France is willing to extend aid to beleaguered member countries.  But Germany is saying no and will even allow some members such as Greece to be dismembered.    The Germans do not see why they should keep lending a helping hand to rescue its members who are financially irresponsible and plagued with rampant corruption.  

We have only just begun.  There are more nightmares worth mentioning.  Germany recently officially declared the phase out of its nuclear power plants after the catastrophe in Fukushima.  This sours Germany’s relationship with its nuclear partner, France.  France leads the world in dependence in nuclear energy with its half-state owned company, Areva.  Areva is in partnership with Siemens with offices scattered all over the Rhineland.  With Germany’s withdrawal as one of its biggest clients and partners, bilateral tension between the two is another issue to debate about.   

It gets juicier.  The sex scandal of former IMF Managing Director, Dominique Strauss Kahn, was a big blow to the reputation of its European leaders, and not just in France.  Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was also on trial for hiring underage prostitutes in his lavish parties.  Not only are their leaders incapable of maintaining a balanced budget but they are also being arrested for rape or sex with minors at home and abroad.  Where are the role models for leadership?

And finally, the attack of the killer cucumbers.  Germany became the first victim with 15 deaths and over 300 infected patients being treated with the E. coli virus.   And now, one death has been recorded in Sweden.  Spain was the first country to be blamed for its poisonous vegetables and as the main source of the killer cucumbers without solid scientific evidence.    Spain retaliated with harsh comments from its Agriculture Minister Rosa Aguilar: "We are disappointed by the way Germany handles the situation. We want Germany to provide, without any delay and distractions, the necessary information of its investigation so that the European Union can know what is causing the E. coli outbreak."  There is a lot of political finger-pointing going on which will surely get worse before it gets better.

The EU was created to prevent further nationalism that has, in the past, ripped the continent.  They still have a long way to go before real unity can be achieved.