Gentlemen,

When considering the genesis of the EU as an economic and political entity I wonder about the contributory impacts of the Roman Empire (177AD), the Holy Roman Empire (1600), the Marshal Plan (1947), the European Payments Union (1950), the European Coal and Steel Community (1951), the European Economic Community (1957), the European Atomic Energy Community (1957), the European Commission, the Snake in the Tunnel (died in 1973) as well as many other European agreements, frameworks, organizations, and institutions.

  • A map of the Roman Empire's maximal extent (AD 117) superimposed over today's Europe


  • A map of the extent of the Holy Roman Empire (around 1600) superimposed over today's Europe


  • A map of the European Union (2011) superimposed upon the globe


Why did recent statesmen such as Konrad Adenauer & Charles de Gaulle, Willy Brandt & Valery Giscard d'Estang, Helmut Kohl & Francois Mitterrand and their associated technocrats spend so many billable hours on the vision of the EU? Perhaps it was that some of these statesmen lived and soldiered through war and had truly seen a bit of what the human animal is about?

I also wonder about who today's key players are and who is aligning with who and who is selectively strengthening and weakening who...politics aka chess without rules as one of my friends was found of saying.


Germany is winning the debate on fiscal union, December 4, 2011 6:36 pm by Gavyn Davies, Financial Times, www.ft.com

The leaders of the eurozone have finally reached crunch time. This is the week in which Angela Merkel’s “grand bargain” is due to reach fulfilment at the European summit. On one side of the bargain, the eurozone will be required to accept Germany’s demand for “fiscal union”. On the other side, Germany will agree to the provision of funds to help indebted countries to remain liquid while they reduce government deficits and debt ratios, and thereby regain market access. These provisions of liquidity will come from the EFSF, which will transform into the ESM in 2013, and potentially from the ECB.
Public finances in EMU 2011, Marco Buti, European Commission

This year's report comes at a time when doubts on continued steady output growth have emerged and the optimism of the Spring that the European economy is emerging into the post-crisis world has become more cautious. This optimism is moreover further muted by the risks associated with the Member States with high spreads on their bond yields, as concerns about solvency and sustainability persist.
Given the difficult times that euro area has faced in recent years, and the central role that debt sustainability has come to play for a number of particularly affected countries, I trust that this year's report will provide a much needed addition to the debate of how to emerge from this crisis economically wiser than we went in.