Sol Invictus
02-04-2010, 09:02 PM
What exactly did the EU want the US President to come all the way over to Madrid to talk about, asks Mats Persson.
February 4 2010 | Telegraph.co.uk
The EU has been left nursing a bruise to its ego this week after US President Barack Obama decided that a trip to Madrid for what has become an annual EU-US summit did not fit into his travel plans. The public humiliation is compounded by the fact that the EU's latest vanity project, the Lisbon Treaty, contributed to the decision.
This has provided those of us who are in favour of a radically reformed EU with an ample illustration of why Europe needs to concentrate on delivering policies for the 21st century, rather than on being seen as a 'global power'. The EU's consistent failure is an inability to recognise that it is the former that brings about the latter, and not the reverse.
Among many other things, the Lisbon Treaty, which created an EU president, foreign minister and diplomatic service, in addition to the six-month rotating EU presidency held by national governments, has always been seen by the European elite as a means of projecting European influence on the global stage. It was meant to answer that old Henry Kissinger question about who to call in Europe.
Read More Here (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/7155154/EU-shambles-over-Barack-Obama-visit-shows-failure-of-Lisbon-Treaty.html)
February 4 2010 | Telegraph.co.uk
The EU has been left nursing a bruise to its ego this week after US President Barack Obama decided that a trip to Madrid for what has become an annual EU-US summit did not fit into his travel plans. The public humiliation is compounded by the fact that the EU's latest vanity project, the Lisbon Treaty, contributed to the decision.
This has provided those of us who are in favour of a radically reformed EU with an ample illustration of why Europe needs to concentrate on delivering policies for the 21st century, rather than on being seen as a 'global power'. The EU's consistent failure is an inability to recognise that it is the former that brings about the latter, and not the reverse.
Among many other things, the Lisbon Treaty, which created an EU president, foreign minister and diplomatic service, in addition to the six-month rotating EU presidency held by national governments, has always been seen by the European elite as a means of projecting European influence on the global stage. It was meant to answer that old Henry Kissinger question about who to call in Europe.
Read More Here (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/7155154/EU-shambles-over-Barack-Obama-visit-shows-failure-of-Lisbon-Treaty.html)