Where now for Europe?

The Irish ‘no’ in the referendum on the Lisbon Treaty has driven Europe into its next major crisis only three years after the French and Dutch rejected the Constitutional Treaty.

...instead of more attempts to maintain the same level of integration across the whole membership, it may be time to seriously contemplate the creation of a structured ‘multi-speed’ European integration process.

In some respects, this ‘multi-speed’ Europe already exists. For instance not all member states are signatories of the Schengen agreement, that...

The emergence of a ‘core Europe’ – with other countries at the fringes - might reinvigorate the integration process that has been bleeding dynamism for years. This is a very difficult task but it might be more promising than the alternative: muddling through without being able to resolve the underlying conflict of competing, and maybe even incompatible, European visions.

A ‘multi-speed’ Europe is certainly not the best solution but it may be the most feasible.

Full article: Where now for Europe?

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