EU-election anniversary - comments on the crisis

According to Björn "Nalle" Wahlroos "this is not a sovereign debt crisis, but a crisis of confidence in Europe and in the ECB" (in today’s FT). The somewhat misleading headline of the story is "ECB failures are behind turmoil, says Sampo chair".

Isn't it rather the failure of the EU Member States to grant the ECB an adequate mandate to handle the crisis? What we need is a common European budget and tax policy that would prevent Greece and the rest from dragging the euro into oblivion before my kids turn 18. 

In other words, this is the moment to take Kierkegaard's leap of faith into federalism, an authentic (political) existence in Europe.

Nalle continues: "It is not that people are seriously worried that countries wonÂ’t pay back their debts, but it is a crisis of confidence in the European social model...We canÂ’t keep taxing people the way we do and we canÂ’t go on subsidising poverty and broken families."

This is tough, but spot on.

Who could honestly disagree with Nalle's believe that the economic recovery will come faster in Europe with greater liberalisation? But the EU's bacchantic desire to regulate, combined with the Members States' increasing tendency to protect their pathetic national interests, will simply not deliver what Europe needs.

Isn't it regrettable that we need bankers like Nalle to draw our attention to the tough problematic realities that the politicians are unwilling to address? It seems to me that the politicians are so delirious about the idea of a "Social Europe" that real structural reforms remain like a distant mirage, apparently evaporating into horizon even in Greece.

In its successful periods the EU has always been pushed forward by grand projects like enhancing the single market and creation of the common currency.

But now, for over a decade, we have lacked vision, and a sense of purpose. The Lisbon Treaty has failed to deliver new dynamism into the EU, which now appears all too busy with the narrow-minded inter-institutional power fights.

At this rate, we will struggle to maintain a place in the balcony of history. In fact, we are just about to jump off that balcony. The free fall might last several years, but the inevitable result will be a crash into to pavement unless a dramatically different political and economic direction is found in the near future.

It would be tempting to blame Catherine Ashton, that walking catastrophe, for many of our disappointments in 2010. But that would be cheap. 

Most successful empires in the world history have at least one thing in common: they have been able to assimilate foreign influences into their dynamic social fabric. European society seems unable to do so. We are stuck with a defensive approach, everyone protecting his or her little political turf in the complex system we have created.

One might have expected that the situation would have triggered a rigorous European debate about our political future. And yes, some people like Guy Verhofstadt, the leader of the liberals in the EP (and ex Belgian Prime Minister), are actually trying to act like senior statesmen should - he is worth listening to.

But let's not fool ourselves, the majority of the top-level politicians and EU officials are too busy in managing their daily responsibilities to stop and think of a real strategy for Europe. Or am I the only one not all that impressed with the "Europe 2020"?

Having said all that I probably don't have leverage to declare myself as an optimist. Nevertheless, I do believe that the current economic, political and mental crisis in the EU is an opportunity to create a new sense of purpose for Europe. 

Ultimately, it all boils down to a really simple question that is already brewing in the European consciousness. We, the Europeans, have exactly two ways forward: upwards, or downwards. Which one would you like to choose?