President of the European Commission Jose
Manuel Barroso:
Frustration with Europe’s loss of respect
boiled over at the
G20 Summit in Mexico. [see video below].
‘Europe Deserves
its Humiliation’ (Financial Times Deutschland, Germany)
“The rescue of
the common currency is disintegrating amid bickering about national interests. …
The world community is no longer open to such reactionary weakness on the part
of Europeans - if it ever was. The failure of E.U. members to speak with one
voice, despite the drama of the situation, has led to a worldwide loss of
respect.”
As European Commission president, one can become quite
thin-skinned, especially if, after all the effort of the past few months,
Europe has heard nothing but niggling, complaints and mockery.
“We are not here to receive lessons in terms of democracy or
how to run an economy,” a clearly-peeved Jose Manuel Barroso informed attendees at the summit of the 20
largest industrialized and emerging countries [video below].
[Editor's Note: The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union. The E.U. president is elected by the European Parliament, on a proposal of the European Council, for a five year term].
But it’s no use fighting it: Europe’s humiliation at the G20
Summit is deserved. It is understandable. And perhaps, ultimately, it might
even be helpful.
Posted by Worldmeets.US
Europe deserves it because for over two years, one of the
richest regions in the world has failed to bring the debt crisis under control
- and every day, the risk grows that it will pull the global economy into its downward
spiral. To be sure, the management of the crisis has in many ways been remarkable,
much of which would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. Great safety
nets stretched open distributing huge amounts of liquidity. But the rescuers still
lag behind, and the rescue of the common currency is disintegrating amid
bickering about national interests.
The world community is no longer open to such reactionary
weakness on the part of Europeans - if it ever was. The failure of E.U. members
to speak with one voice, despite the drama of the situation, has led to a
worldwide loss of respect. It also further undermines faith in the common
currency.
The lectures for Europe from newly-industrialized
countries at the G-20 - delivered with barely concealed mirth - are fair enough. More often than not,
these states were past recipients of instructions and guidelines from the E.U. Now
Europeans must accustom themselves with an unfamiliar tone and a new distribution
of power in the world.
But one thing is certain: not only the scolded of Europe have
big problems. Right now, countries like the United States are concealing their
own troubles behind the euro crisis. All that will change when if the eurozone succeeds in getting its problems under control. To
that end, the reprimand of Europeans at the G-20 Summit may have proven of use.
After all, in moments of doubt, outside pressure has a unifying effect.
