European Demos

A good post by Helen at EU Referendum blog on the European Demos and the problems associated with creating it:

European history has few unifying factors and European countries have few interests in common, that they do not share with other countries as well. The European “idea”, such as it is, can be described vaguely as the idea of the West that has been spluttering since the Battle of Marathon. But the European Union wants to have a European idea that is all its own and has nothing to do with the West

The things that the EU sees as it's unifing culture are in fact part of the common culture of the West, not just Europe but North America Australia and elsewhere. But it cannot acknowlege that as it's ruling elite (I'm looking at you Mr Chirac) have been setting it up as a counterweight to the USA, to hold itself together through a common enemy. Just a shame they decided on what is a fairly Liberal country as the enemy, whilst to try to ingrate itself with the far from liberal China.