In Europe, after the end of the Second World War,
conventional politics had as its main goal, the permanent prevention of German
militarism. Out of this came first; the Iron and Steel Federation which eventually
became The Common Market - a United Europe.
The one idea behind this United Europe was to tie
the countries of Europe so closely together, intertwined politically, commercially
and socially, they could never go to war with each other. This was their
uninspired and superficial reading of history. But anybody who was there, or
anybody who experienced Europe immediately after the Second World War, knew
that the Germans would never go to war again in Europe.
This was not a secret. After the dreadful crimes
of the Second World War came to light and after the Allied occupation of
Germany - we are talking here particularly of the Russian occupation of
Germany, the new German, the young German was an entirely different person from
his father and grandfather.
Europe did need an integration, but an integration
based on its future needs; trade, trade and more trade without boundaries. Here
we are not talking about unregulated capitalism but a capitalism regulated but
unlimited.
Instead we have the EU, a Europe constructed to
meet a problem that was already history and would always be history. That is
one of the reasons it’s in such a mess. The priorities were wrong because the
mission was misplaced. We need a Europe which is all about trade and not about
culture or history or social integration. If that comes it will come piecemeal
and in its own time...
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