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8/20/05

Moneywise: Why we need a dynamic outward-looking Europe - by Alasdair Murray

Moneywise


Why we need a dynamic outward-looking Europe - by Alasdair Murray

Few EU summits have passed quite as disastrously as the June meeting of EU leaders in Brussels. Heads of government failed to reach agreement on a new budget, or even whether to halt ratification on the proposed constitutional treaty, following the 'No' votes in the French and Dutch referendums. Tempers flared as leaders openly blamed each other for the breakdown of the talks. Bertie Ahern, the Irish prime minister, left the meeting lamenting that he did not like to see "grown men bickering with each other". Recent events had thrown into stark relief the two competing visions of the EU. The constitutional treaty itself is dead, even if some European leaders still appear reluctant to turn off the life-support machine. But all EU governments are beginning a far-reaching debate about what direction the EU should now take.

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