Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1513813
AS I sit down to write this – my last article for 2023 – The Times has just uploaded an op- ed piece, entitled 'The value of unity in a changing world', by Charles Michel, Ursula von der Leyen, Christine Lagarde, Paschal Donohoe, and Roberta Metsola. Now: I imagine that most of those names won't need much in the way of introduction (though I must confess I had to look up Paschal Donohoe, as – for some obscure reason – I don't generally keep track of whom Ireland chooses to ap- point as its Finance Minister, at any given moment...) As for the rest, however, we are talking about the chief 'movers and shakers' of the en- tire European Union: the pres- idents of, respectively, the Eu- ropean Council; the European Commission; the European Bank; and – last but not least – the European Parliament. Perhaps unsurprisingly, then, this article – also, in a sense, the EU's 'last for 2023' – gives us a unique insight into pretty much everything that's clearly going WRONG, with the so- called 'European Project' right now. Starting with… … well, the very first para- graph: "The case for Europe has always rested on solving problems that countries could not address alone. After World War II, visionary leaders un- derstood that the only way to secure peace on our continent was to unite our economies. And a united Europe would, in time, require a single currency to make the most of the eco- nomic benefits created by this peace dividend…" And ending with a quote by French author Anatole France (yep, that's her real name): "To accomplish great things, we must not only act but also DREAM; not only plan but also BELIEVE"… … to which the signatories add: "The first 25 years of the euro have shown just how suc- cessful a dream can be. But, as the world changes around us, our action proves that a united Europe provides the answers the Europeans and the world need." Hmm. Ok, there's a lot to chew over, there: and also, quite a lot that can openly be challenged (or at least, debat- ed). For instance: the some- what glib assertion that the foundational 'dream' of 'Euro- pean economic unification' – which, incidentally, is what the European project was original- ly all about – really has been as successful, as the authors of this article would have us all (ahem) 'believe'. In other words: can European economies really be described as 'unified', today… when Eu- ropean institutions seem to al- ways use vastly different yard- sticks, when confronted with different EU countries facing the same sort of economic problems? Take Greece and Germa- ny, for instance. When, from 2007-18, Greece faced an un- precedented sovereign debt crisis… the IMF (then under the chairmanship of Chris- tine Lagarde) and the Euro- pean Bank chose to actively intervene in Greece's internal economic affairs: resulting in "sudden reforms and austerity measures that led to impov- erishment and loss of income and property, as well as a small-scale humanitarian cri- sis." [Note: that's from Wiki- pedia, by the way. Personally, the Greek humanitarian cri- sis didn't look so very 'small- scale', to me…] But when Germany experi- enced a sudden debt crisis of its own, late this year… there was not so much as a squeak from either of those two in- stitutions (one of which, the European Bank, now being un- der Lagarde's leadership); nor even, as it happens, from the European Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen. No 'sudden reforms' for Germany; and even less, any EU-imposed 'austerity meas- ures' (of the kind that Germany itself had so gleefully demand- ed for Greece, back in 2007). In fact, there was no EU-level reaction of any kind, whatso- ever. In the end, it had to be Germany's own Constitutional Court – and not any 'interim measures' (of the kind that the Commission has so often used against other member states, including Malta, in the past) – to shoot down the German's government's ILLEGAL han- dling of that particular crisis. So when the same Christine Lagarde, and Ursula von der Leyen, now write 'dreamy' ar- ticles in the European press, about how very 'successful' their own economic policies have all along been… well, 'Tell it to the Greeks', I say! (And I can assure you: there are some maltatoday | SUNDAY • 31 DECEMBER 2023 10 OPINION To 'dream'; perchance also to 'believe'… ay, there's the rub! Raphael Vassallo