The great mistake of the EU is that it chose to structure itself as a nation-state on top of many different nation-states. And now is a really bad time for that.
As we found out in our discussions here on the blog, the greatest public good today is convenience. Adding regulations on top of even more regulations is not a strategy that any state can afford to practice for much longer.
The EU will exist for as long as it provides convenience and ease of movement. Facilitating travel and offering easy change of residence, removing the hassle of having to think about currency exchange rates – this should be the EU’s business if it is to survive.
Clarissa's Blog 
The AU (African Union) doesn’t even do much of that. But, they do like to send Peace Keeping Forces to places like Sudan and Mali.
LikeLike
At a deeper level the fundamental sin of the EU was having a monetary union without a fiscal union (i.e. European central bank.. but each country still with its own budget). Only way EU stays together long-term is if more power goes to the “national level” (I believe Brussels right?), and less goes to each country. Basically Germany, france , Italy etc all need to be comes states (like Arkansas, new York, California) and cede power to Brussels (ie. Washington). I just don’t think that is very likely whatsoever.
LikeLike
“At a deeper level the fundamental sin of the EU was having a monetary union without a fiscal union.”
Yes, I agree, this is one of the reasons why the EU is so inept. It’s just not strong enough. Basically every member state has a significant political force with a huge support basis that wants to step out of it which is a huge incertainty for businesses. How will we compete with the USA and Asia this way? The USA member states don’t threaten the federal state with exit in every single occassion when they don’t like something in the central legislation. The attitude of the EU member states remind me that of a small kid. In Eastern Europe I had to listen that the EU only served the needs of the Western countries (yeah, of course, that’s why the corrupt Eastern European politicians steal that much EU money every year). In Western Europe I have to listen that the EU only serves the needs of the Eastern countries (yeah, of course, it’s the powerless periphery who tends to rule…). It’s so tiring, mainly because these fits on behalf of the populist politicians have zero sense, because nobody will exit, as every stakeholder with real economic power wants to keep the toll- and borderfree EU markets.
The EU will remain because big corporations won’t let it fall apart, as they want to remain competitive in the globalized world, and in the new era of the “market state” corporations will rule. It was so professional how they manipulated the Scots with their economic and financial threats against voting to independence …. in fact their marketing machinery turned the poll results in less than a week … the same thing will happen when someone will want to leave the EU, and it will work again as nobody wants any inconvenience in the consumerist member states (Eastern Europe is also consumerist, we learn quite fast).
The new EU VAT tax regulation recently freaked me out btw, and also excellently shows the ineptitude of the current, decentralized EU: companies will have to pay the VAT in the country where they sell the product, not in the country where they’re located (that means 27 different rules instead of 1). Good luck for me with tracking back the country of origin of each customer of my online products, and even more luck to my accountant, the calculations will be really easy, as not only the VAT rates are different in every state but also the VAT limits. And if we talk about ineptitude, it’s also worth to mention the veto right of each individual member state that basically makes the efficient decision-making impossible. The 2/3 majority rule (that works well everywhere else) may have too much sense.
LikeLike
“It was so professional how they manipulated the Scots with their economic and financial threats against voting to independence”
LikeLike