The European debt crisis – Europe needs a new vision

Surrounding the European debt crisis and the search for new institutional arrangements for the European Monetary Union increasingly gives the impression that Europe is no longer a vision. Only 49 percent of Europeans rate their country’s membership as positive and only 42 percent trust the European institutions.

Nevertheless, Europe’s cultural heritage acts. Otherwise, the creation of the European Union as we know it today would not have been possible. Nevertheless, always the accession of new countries are increasingly altering the quality. A political union, which goes well beyond what has been achieved with the common foreign and security policy and cooperation on crimes, cannot be realized in a space that goes from the Atlantic to the Urals. At the same time, no one wants to endanger the peace of this area.

What we need is a Europe of different integration areas. There are three steps have in this context to the front:

1. Differentiated integration spaces

Differentiated integration spaces are not a rejection of the younger members of the Union. On the contrary, they offer the chance of a realistic design, given the different starting positions and preferences. It can also be used for the integration of large-area connections such as infrastructure networks and defines – make that go far beyond national interests and generate region-wide externalities.

2. A common currency

We can afford diplomatically as Europeans not to fail on the international stage. Europe therefore needs a common currency, to avoid being marginalized in world politics of the U.S. and China.

3. Europe for the sake of peace

Strengthening of Germany and France can succeed only if the potential of cultural similarities is re-evaluated. Despite all the conflicts of the past, Europe is for the sake of peace. Peace through law, peace through secularization of politics, education, reason and liberty. See Europe as a basis of convenience. Although we are too different culturally. According to some, the big problem is considered in addition to the financial industry worldwide. It is necessary classic “feudal” system in each country, so you have to prune the state institutions heavily on their real tasks.