Europe - Does it Matter?

So this new series called Euro-Visions will be looking at very different aspects of European trade, economics, infrastructure, communication and politics. It will start by looking at the languages spoken, then the main EU institutions, followed by the opportunities offered by the EU enlargement. I will then look at different business habits before studying the case of Europe’s most powerful economy, Germany. My main aim is to be informative. But I also intend to be encouraging, which is why I’ve called the series Euro-Visions.

After all the EU does not set out to make the life of its European citizens more difficult, but easier; it doesn’t strive to replace national governments and their power, but make them work together more efficiently; it doesn’t want to take away national characteristics, but to add to them a feeling of European belonging. That’s surely a “vision” worth pursuing.

On a continent that has literally been shaken by one terrible war after the other, how can it not be a good idea to have an ideal vision of Europe, as did its founding fathers after a war lasting six years, which guarantees peace and freedom and, as far as possible, prosperity to all its citizens?

But let’s finish on a lighter note. Surely you all know the joke about hell and heaven in Europe. What does heaven look like in Europe? The Germans are the mechanics, the Swiss are the financiers, the French are the cooks, the Italians are the lovers, and the Englishmen are the police. But what about hell in Europe? Here, the Germans are the police, the Swiss are the lovers, the French are the mechanics, the Italians are the financiers, and the Englishmen are the cooks.

Well, as long as you feel that the stereotypes in this joke will still work in 10 years time, who should worry about losing one’s national identity? Let’s just hope that our cooking skills will be more widely accepted by then (and, with a little help from our Greek friends, maybe our soccer skills too …)!