The European Union?

The market had its single biggest weekly increase since 2003. I guess this isn't the Great Depression part 2, after all. The market did not lose 90% of its value and we do not have a jobless rate of 25%, as happened in the depression set off by the catastrophic events of "Black Monday" in 1929. Interesting...

Americans have always done their best to make Europe into some form of conglomerate. The creation of the EU reinforced that view. This week the unity of law in the EU is allowing an Australian man who lives in England be prosecuted for a crime by Germany for a "crime" that was committed in England and is not recognized as a crime in his native state. Until he can be extradited, he is sitting in a British jail. Sounds, crazy, doesn't it? Let me tell you what happened... He posted some very charged writings on the Internet, which Germany claims fall under the crime of "Holocaust denial" and that because they could be read by Germans, the man had committed a crime. There are no such laws against "thought crimes" in England or Australia, so the man committed no crime in either country. However, due to a 2005 law, the EU has a Europe-wide arrest warrant, so the British police were required to serve the man with a German arrest warrant and confine him accordingly until he can be tried in a German court of law.

Flip the coin- last week the 4 biggest economies of the EU- Britain, France, Germany, and Italy- met for a mini-summit to develop a comprehensive joint plan to deal with the current economic crisis. They were unable to do so. It turned into "every country for itself". France recommended a "blanket guarantee" of all European banks, a suggestion rejected by Britain and Germany. They did not want to spend their money to shore up the weaker banks in the EU, believing that they had the stronger banks that would not need that form of guarantee. Meanwhile, as neighbor countries such as Ireland have started guaranteeing their banks, people have pulled out their money and deposited it in these guaranteed banks. With the country next door only being a short train ride away in many cases, this is not as ridiculous as it sounds. This causes money to migrate, causing the strong but not guaranteed, banks to lose much needed capital which leaves them dangerously underfunded. This is the situation France's suggestion is trying to avoid.

The point is, that while the EU is very unified on some fronts, it is very divided by national lines and self-interest in others. They may hold a lot of the same principles dear, but they are different peoples with different traditions, cultures, and economic habits. Americans, and Europeans, are remiss in assuming a unified front and identity in the EU member nations.

That said, the fact remains that while we are separate nations with separate identities, due to the globalization of the modern economy, we all need to communicate and come to some consensus as to how to calm and stabilize the international economy as a whole. We need to stop denying that the misfortunes of one nation has no effect on the rest of us and start exploring and strengthening those common bonds that join us together. Even if some are not affected now, we all will be affected at some point. This is one of those opportunities to create true unity of spirit and intention that when exploited can create true positive change and well being. I hope that the nations of the EU, and the world, take advantage of it.