Comments on: New Europe/Old Europe

By: yabonn

yabonn — Wed, 23 Feb 2005 01:35:46 +0000

None of this is exactly surprising to scholars of the EU Not to go wisdomofthecrowds-ish all over the place, but joe european seems as unsuprised as his fellow scholar. I suppose it’s the same kind of fuzzy, unclarified approbation that greases the wheels of the enlargement process. From across the Atlantic it looks like the EU is trying to become more like the US. [...] Just hoping it keeps the nations in the EU from killing each other. No it’s not th… It’s not the wa… There’s a diff… You can’t reall… Erm. Fuggedaboutit.

By: james

james — Tue, 22 Feb 2005 22:42:54 +0000

From across the Atlantic it looks like the EU is trying to become more like the US. The system being put in place is giving to much unaccountable power to the bureaucracy. Just hoping it keeps the nations in the EU from killing each other.

By: DaveVH

DaveVH — Tue, 22 Feb 2005 20:44:00 +0000

If anything, Europe is becoming more Atlanticist, not less. Two Atlanticists are steering the EU’s external policy – Javier Solana and José Barroso – the ruling French centre right has been making friendly noises to the US, the reaction to Bush’s visit this week is conciliatory. The accession of countries like Poland has woken Europe up to the idea that America isn’t impossible to deal with; in any case they were never likely to sit on the sidelines and say they weren’t joining in with the EU’s foreign policy. It would be nice to think that all this loving feeling would lead to an ethical foreign policy by the EU, rather than the greedy self-interest we see at the moment. But let’s not hold out breath when there are weapons to be sold or cocktail parties where you can slime up to Cuban officials. Regards,

By: Sam

Sam — Tue, 22 Feb 2005 19:17:17 +0000

By: Cranky Observer

Cranky Observer — Tue, 22 Feb 2005 18:15:42 +0000

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder sent a letter to the Polish government recommending it purchase planes for the national airline from French company Airbus, Blair’s official spokesman confirmed Tuesday. The spokesman said the three leaders recommended that the Polish government buy new passenger planes for national carrier LOT from Airbus, rather than from U.S. rival Boeing Co.

No power politics or new/old division in the EU, no sireee!

Cranky

By: Andrew Boucher

Andrew Boucher — Tue, 22 Feb 2005 18:07:11 +0000

Yeah, yeah, yeah, heard that before. Europe is getting bigger and bigger, so it thinks it is getting stronger and stronger. But bigger isn’t always better. More members mean that decisions will be harder to reach. The E.U. Constitution hasn’t been passed and, even if it does come into being, it does not look to create the clear decision-making that a state as big as the E.U. needs. Maybe the E.U. will pull the rabbit out of the hat. But the best we can say at this point, is the jury is out. By the way, the U.S. gets some credit for the Ukraine as well – it wasn’t just an E.U. show. Also, a good indicator of the Polish heart will be which it buys: Airbus or Boeing? Stay tuned.

By: Lee Scoresby

Lee Scoresby — Tue, 22 Feb 2005 18:04:09 +0000

At a conference in the Netherlands last year I argued that, given the kinds of structural conditions that facilitate divide-and-rule policies, it makes no sense for the US to be trying to pit “Old Europe” against “New Europe.” My co-author, in the process of revising our paper, argues that if you look at changes at State, it is pretty clear that the US has decided that policy won’t work and is abandoning it. On the other hand, one should never underestimate the ability of the Europeans to screw up policy coordination in security and foreign affairs. Just saying.

By: Sebastian Holsclaw

Sebastian Holsclaw — Tue, 22 Feb 2005 18:01:53 +0000

“As Munchau says, there’s a real sense in the capitals of Europe that the EU is becoming a more coherent foreign policy actor – and that the US needs to wake up to this.” If only it were becoming a coherent foreign policy actor. The real fear is that it is becoming a coherent foreign policy inactor.

By: Matt

Matt — Tue, 22 Feb 2005 17:42:47 +0000

I think this is largely right- but that it also highlights how the older EU members are shooting themselves in the foot in now allowing full, or at least more, free movement between the new and old members- I don’t see how the new members can find the restrictions as anything but affirmation of second-class membership status, and it’s pretty clear that the free movement of workers and students is one of the most important aspects for the development of a “European” consciousness.

By: P O'Neill

P O'Neill — Tue, 22 Feb 2005 17:10:25 +0000

Does the US push for Turkey in the EU to make the EU more “Atlanticist” or just to make it weaker? (or is that the same difference?)

By: Des von Bladet

Des von Bladet — Tue, 22 Feb 2005 16:52:33 +0000

We seem to recall there was a great deal of “Serves ‘em right!” from the wingnut chorus when all the juicy Iraq contracts were being unawarded to France and Germany, and a conspicuous absence of calls to “spare some gravy for plucky Polandland!”