AUGUST usually finds Europe’s politicians bronzing on the beach or lacing up their walking boots. But for the past few weeks they have been huddling, scheming and debating how to give their floundering European Union a fresh lease of life. “Citizens will only accept the EU if it makes it possible for them to prosper,” said Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, during a visit to Warsaw last week.
If there is a fresh urgency to the EU’s latest bout of navel-gazing, blame Brexit. Britain’s vote to leave on June 23rd was a grievous blow to a club that has only ever known expansion. At a summit six days after the vote, the leaders of the 27 remaining countries vowed reform and arranged to meet again in Bratislava on September 16th. Much of the recent shuttle diplomacy has been aimed at finding common ground for that meeting. As ever, Mrs Merkel has taken the lead. On August 22nd she and her French and Italian counterparts laid on the symbolism by holding a mini-summit on Ventotene, an Italian island where Altiero Spinelli, an early Euro-federalist, had been imprisoned during the war.
There is no shortage of ideas. This week five senior European analysts and officials issued a paper...Continue reading
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