Shadows over Europe

(Düsseldorf, Germany)

Last week in the North Rhine-Westphalia elections German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s CDU party lost 22 seats, with the Green Party and The Left Party picking up eleven new seats each and leaving the Chancellor’s party with the same number of seats as the SPD. Most commentators agreed that the result was a punishment for the decision of the German government two days previously to agree to spend €22.4 billion on bailing out Greece.

This is another blow to the concept – and indeed to the reality – of a united Europe and comes barely seven months after the Irish government was obliged to beg (blackmail) the Irish people into reversing their earlier decision to reject the terms of the Lisbon Treaty. The people of France and Holland had already voted against the first version of the Lisbon Treaty, the European Constitution, in 2005 and were also obliged by their respective governments to think again.

No such problems have beset the British government, because it already shares its people’s inherent mistrust of Europe and its meddling.

Meanwhile, at the other end of Europe, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia took the plunge in 2004 and were joined by Bulgaria and Romania in 2007, although the latter will still have to endure work restrictions set by the richer EU nations until well into the next decade.

The popularity of Europe is moving across Europe like the shadow of a cloud over ripe cornfields – as more and more Eastern countries want in, it seems the richer Western European countries want out. How long will it be before the shadow reflects the geographical boundaries and the reality of Europe moves east too?