A dose of ‘Verhofstadtism’

[Henk Elegeert]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

http://blogs.euobserver.com/mahony/2009/05/14/a-dose-of-%e2%80%98verhofstadtism%e2%80%99/

"
A dose of ‘Verhofstadtism’

A dose of Verhofstadtism. Strongly EU integrationist and floating in a
plane where decisions are taken quickly and the domestic political
arena plays no role.

I had forgotten just how unabashedly pro-EU former Belgian PM Guy
Verhofstadt is, on Tuesday I was reminded once again.

Floppy-fringed and tie-less, Verhofstadt marched into the European
Parliament on Tuesday to plug the result of his anger – a book - over
Europe’s, and particularly the European Commission’s, inaction in the
face of the current economic crisis.

His answer: Much more EU. A single EU recovery plan. A European
financial supervisor. Eurobonds. A European bad-assets bank. European
economic governance And a lot more spending.

Given the way member states have reacted to so far to the crisis,
getting all the boxes ticked on this list seems about as likely as
Vaclav Klaus coming out in favour of the Lisbon Treaty.

But it was good to listen to someone who has thought long about the
problem defending their ideas. He is right: Member states are only
slowly waking up to the gravity of the crisis and their responses vary
widely.

Compounding this rudderless feeling, the commission has not filled the
vacuum with political leadership and ideas.

Yes, its hands are tied by the will of national governments, but who dares wins.

If there are no initiatives coming from the commission, there will be
no proper discussions on what to do. If there is no proper discussion,
the fragmented approach to this crisis will continue.

So hurrah for Verhofstadt. Unrealistic? Maybe. But better than having
no ideas at all.
"

Maar, wat heeft het voor zin als men zich niet aan afspraken wenst te
houden?  Al dan niet in breder verband afgesproken?!!

Henk Elegeert

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