Europe agrees to disagree

Pascal Parrot/Getty

Or, as Der Spiegel puts it, Europe is divided over how to unite. Expectations had been high for the summit in Brussels this week, but, if anything, the meeting of EU leaders just seems to suggest that playing the stubborn card (or even the history card) is popular with the folks back home.

In other words, don’t hold your breath for any breakthroughs. As Merkel attempts to wrangle the heads of government into agreeing to call the proposed (and dead-in-the-water) constitution by another (any other) name, national disagreements over the extent of EU powers have only grown more acute. And it certainly doesn’t appear that there will be an outbreak of compromise in Brussels this week.

The fact that it is Europe that often does the most harm to Europe’s chances of being a global powerhouse is something well documented by Clive Crook in FP‘s latest issue. His Think Again: Europe expertly debunks common myths about the continent, including its troubles with Muslim integration and its vaunted social model. At this key juncture in the maturation of the EU, it’s not to be missed.