Belgium stands alone in its defense of Europe
The other day on the Dutch TV talk show Pauw & Witteman, a huge political gap was revealed in the political landscape of the low countries. Guy Verhofstadt, the former Belgian prime minister who is now running for the European parliament, was explaining how only Europe can save the world from the financial crisis. More Europe was needed, Verhofstadt said, not less. An Obama-style plan on a European scale, led by a European economic government, is how he argues it in his new book, The way out of the crisis. To make their point, the hosts invited Verhofstadt to watch a cascade of images of no-voters in France, the Netherlands and Ireland in referenda on the European constitution in 2005 and 2008. And didn't Europe's political leaders themselves want less rather than more Europe? Both Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel got into a nationalist frenzy over the credit crisis.
Verhofstadt was unfazed. Give it a few years, he said, and Sarkozy and Merkel and even Bos of the Netherlands will come to realize that the solution can only come from Europe. It's just a matter of waiting for the crisis to really hit home. It was a reply based on an old recipe: if you can't prove your point in the present, appeal to the future. But when exactly will that future be upon us?
Note EU-Digest: Pauw and Witteman, two arrogant Dutch journalists, who like their country seem too big for their boots, could not swallow the fact that Mr. Verhofstadt was right on target in what he said. Unfortunately many of today's European politicians are mediocre, inward looking, self centered and unable to see the big picture. Eventually this political mentality, if not reversed, will destroy the EU and the hand that feeds them. This is specially true for the Netherlands, which is dependent on trade with its European neighbors. Europe needs more politicians like Mr. Verhofstadt
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