Fear Of Failure

Such is the nature of the EU that each six month stint at holding the presidency is expected to result in a great leap forward. Those that do not manage to generate some ground breaking effort on the road to ever closer union, are regarded as failures. Thus:

British Prime Minister Tony Blair returns to the European Parliament four months after winning over the sceptical assembly with his vision for Europe, having achieved little yet of real substance as EU president since the failed summit in June threw the EU into crisis.

Those of us with our feet on the ground would be advised to remember that the budget doesn’t have to be passed this year. It should also be remembered that TB achieved the almost impossible in regards to Turkey. Whether you think that a good thing or not is irrelevant, on his own terms this is a big success. And yet the idea that he has failed is driving our Prime Minister to make concessions that he would probably not otherwise make. A great example of the fact that the EU has a life of its own, and the ratchet seems to tighten whatever happens and whoever is making the decisions. The whole project is inexorably biased, politically, socially and economically toward further integration.