Join more than 165,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with the latest financial news, insights and expert analysis to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Want to add more newsletters?
An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
Book review: a fascinating take on recent European history
Alarums and Excursions A former speechwriter for the European Council president looks at some of the key challenges that the EU has faced over the past decade.
Sign up for MoneyWeek’s free twice-daily newsletter.
Join more than 165,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with latest financial news, insights and expert analysis to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.
Join more than 165,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with latest financial news, insights and expert analysis to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.
British politicians may feel they've spent the last few years in perpetual crisis mode, but those in Brussels have had bigger troubles, including the fallout from Brexit, the euro crisis, the situation in Ukraine, and the refugee crisis. This book, from a former speechwriter for the European Council president, looks at some of the key challenges that the EU has faced over the past decade.
The author attempts to be as objective as possible, but he clearly has little time for what he sees as selfish objections to granting greater powers to European institutions in areas such as fiscal policy and asylum and immigration. And when he looks at the fight between the functionalist (technocrats), federalist (integrationists) and confederationist (nationalists) visions of Europe's future, his sympathies are clearly with the federalists, while understanding that most people in Europe don't feel the same way.
He admits that when federalists talk about making Europe "more democratic" what they really mean is increasing the power of the EU at the expense of individual nation states. This disconnect between Europe's elites and its citizenry is, in his view, the big force driving the current populist backlash. The book could do with some editing, but it is a fascinating take on events in recent European history.
Sign up for MoneyWeek's newsletters
Join more than 165,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with the latest financial news, insights and expert analysis to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.
