The EU needs leadership, not wilful determination - by John Wyles
The competition between European leaders to be the first to reach Cairo, Jerusalem or Moscow, highlights again the EU's lack of influence. Those of us who once lamented the lack of leadership in the European Union should have been reminded at the time of the old adage “be careful what you wish for”. Today the EU is awash with leaders dashing to Cairo, jetting into Jerusalem, acting as envoys to Moscow, stopping over in Kiev – all in a furious competition to acquire power and influence for themselves, their country and, sometimes, for Europe. Unfortunately, the spectacle to which we are all being treated is not one of carefully considered initiatives designed to make the best use, at the best time, of Europe's meagre political resources and slender influence in international affairs. Instead, our leaders are projecting disunion, disarray and a wilful determination by the big member states to continue pushing the European Commission into the political background.
Note EU-Digest: Very true, all this positioning by national European leaders on the International scene is just pathetic and bad for the image of the EU. Why can't we show some unity and get the Lisbon treaty passed. We in Europe complain about the ignorance of the US population having chosen George Bush twice, but at the same time the European population also shows that same weakness if they believe any individual member state within the EU could independently stand on their own against powers like the US, China, India or Russia.
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