In der Krise verschließen Europas Politiker beharrlich die Augen vor der Realität. Sie hören immer noch lieber den europapolitischen Sonntagsreden eines Helmut Kohl zu, statt sich mit den unangenehmen ökonomischen Analysen eine Vaclav Klaus auseinanderzusetzen. Der Schaden, den solch eine naive Europhilie anrichtet, ist gewaltig. Der Euro, der “hart wie die Mark” werden sollte, wird bald weich wie französischer Camembert sein.

The fantasy of European integration is over

... There are two ways to look at Europe. The first is a sober assessment of the continent’s difficult reality. It acknowledges the social, economic and political challenges as well as the inherent limits of supranational problem-solving. The second is a pseudo-romantic view of Europe not so much as the troubled continent that it is, but as an idealised place in which cooperation and multilateralism have replaced competition and nationalism.

The Greek crisis should have dealt a blow to those who still cling on to this harmonious ideal of European integration. If Greece has demonstrated one thing it is the fact that ‘ever closer union’ cannot effectively conceal economic discrepancies and national interests.

Many European leaders would, however, draw the very opposite conclusion. Instead of recognising the failures of the European project, they call for even more of the same. For example, French President Nicholas Sarkozy has repeatedly advocated a joint economic policy for the whole continent – blissfully ignoring that the EU is an institution in which even an agreement on the definition of chocolate can take 15 years.

Unfortunately, last weekend’s rescue package has moved the EU closer to the French ideas of fiscal union while simultaneously damaging the independence of the European Central Bank. The euro, once promised to be as hard as the Deutschmark, will soon become as soft as French camembert as a result. ...

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