Entries from SAIS Next Europe tagged with 'France'
Where Should the EU End?
The question is not whether the EU will again be ready to expand; it is where the EU ought to end.
In retrospect, the historic European Union expansion of May 2004 carries more than a hint of irony. The accession of eight former communist nations of Central Europe was in many ways a high point for Europe. The EU monitored these countries' transition towards liberal democracy; it influenced their political culture and guided economic transformation.
It wasn't a miracle, as one might mistakenly believe from listening to the European vulgate. But it is safe to say that the EU accompanied a remarkable development. When viewed alongside the quagmire that America was making for itself in Iraq at the time, enlargement became the epitome of Europe's power and of the scale of its ambitions.
For New EU President, A Baffling Array of Challenges
The Czech Republic took over the European Union's six-month rotating presidency on New Year's Day amid substantial apprehension across the continent. While Nicolas Sarkozy used the job to fill an American leadership gap during the outbreak of the world financial crisis, the presidency has shifted to an outlier of sorts: a country that does not use the euro, one of the two in the 27-nation bloc which has not approved the Lisbon Treaty, with a fiery Euroskeptic president, at a time when an uneven economic downturn offers the EU its greatest challenge in a decade. And additional tests did not wait long to pop up. In the first week of 2009, Israeli ground troops invaded Gaza and all Russian gas headed for Europe via Ukraine was cut off.
France's Swan Song? Not So Fast
I was home in Paris recently and two articles I read struck me: one in Le Monde was an interview of Donald Morrison, the recent author of a book that develops an argument first presented in a Nov. 2007 Time Magazine article, "The Death of French Culture". The other one was a poetic account by Roger Cohen, the New York Times columnist, of his nostalgia for the Paris of his youth.
For both authors, Paris has lost its luster. No more intellectuals in the cafés of the Latin Quarter. No more Ernest Hemingways and Henry Millers drawn by the city's cultural edge. Now, French authors and scientists flock to the United States, where they find the vitality that Paris seems to have lost.
Europe's Winner in Financial Crisis: Politicians
In France, President Nicolas Sarkozy nearly abandoned capitalism during his speech in Toulon on September 24th. Coming from the current EU President, his comments added to the sense of panic, rather than showing resolve and leadership. Those comments may have resonated with socialist sympathizers in France, but left financial analysts scratching their heads. Many are wondering if this is just another French promised reformist, turned apathetic. A few weeks ago he gathered with his European counterparts for a coordinated rescue package, which calls into question the purpose of his Toulon rhetoric. Remind me which side was he on during the '68 protests? He's made a decent effort to spearhead negotiations recently among the EU and US counterparts, but now appears to be stalling the process with his insistence on including energy-related language. If the Kyoto and the EU carbon credit fiascos taught anything is that the US and the EU are nowhere near consensus on climate change.
Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi appeared too fixated on saving Alitalia to notice the looming global meltdown. Now, with the banking system called into question, the rescue of Italy's national airline is on the backburner. Although he's a successful business executive who must understand markets, with his three-thousand Euro suits Berlusconi embodies an air of the backroom-deal and golden parachute that many attribute as the prime causes of the financial crisis. It may be hard for the billionaire to appeal to the unemployed if the crisis gets out of hand in Italy, but the jury is still out, pending the country's financial state in the coming months.
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