Post by Old Badger on May 27, 2020 14:47:11 GMT -5
A funny thing happened on the way to the break-up of the EU after the Great Recession, Greek euro crisis, Brexit, and COVID-19: it may have gotten stronger. To many, that's a surprise, but many others thought that dealing with those threats would demonstrate to Europeans just how worthwhile the post-war project of European integration has been. And at the moment that optimistic view has major support:
The key was Germany's about-face on decades of policy that largely was intended to protect its own economy from weaker member states. Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron jointly proposed this plan, but it is Merkel's leadership that's driving it:
The article does not explain the Hamilton reference, but it was the agreement between Hamilton on the one hand, and Jefferson and Madison on the other, to allow the federal government to assume all state debts in return for building the permanent Capital City on the Maryland-Virginia border. This agreement finally created the strong central government envisioned when the Constitution replaced the Articles of Confederation. The parallel with the EU proposal is imperfect, but the basic idea of the central institutions of the EU finally being able to raise and redistribute funds across member states this way is a huge step in the same direction.
I once predicted that with the UK out of the EU the Union would be able to grow stronger. It's still too early to say that's happening, but this certainly is positive evidence. The UK always saw the EU as a trading bloc, whereas for many Continental governments and citizens it's been about maintaining peace in Europe, especially between Germany and France. The Franco-German joint proposal advances that braoder conception.
BRUSSELS — European Union leaders on Wednesday proposed an $825 billion coronavirus rescue plan that would give Brussels major new powers akin to integrating the bloc into a federal state. The plan would allow the European Union to raise money on its own, separately from its 27 member states, and give the funds to needy nations. If approved, it would be a major step toward deepening the integration of the European Union, which has been under strain since the crisis of 2008 over how to rescue member states’ economies. The E.U. plan would offer $605 billion in the form of grants to struggling countries. The remainder would be in the form of loans with strings attached, which would mirror more closely measures of the past. WP article
Merkel is encouraging the European Union to abandon old constraints, borrow money in vast quantities and channel the cash toward the E.U. nations whose economies have been most devastated by the pandemic. The plan would give E.U. leaders in Brussels some powers akin to running a single nation. Proponents are calling it Europe’s “Hamiltonian moment,” after the 1790 agreement, engineered by Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, that transformed the United States from a loose confederation of former colonies to a true federation with a central government.
I once predicted that with the UK out of the EU the Union would be able to grow stronger. It's still too early to say that's happening, but this certainly is positive evidence. The UK always saw the EU as a trading bloc, whereas for many Continental governments and citizens it's been about maintaining peace in Europe, especially between Germany and France. The Franco-German joint proposal advances that braoder conception.
