Qualms & Wires

What have you done for the European Union today?

It's that time of year isn't it. To think of others, to be charitable and altruistic, especially towards the needy, the downtrodden.

Serge July labelled the situation from the french perspective "SOS Europe" this week, and the recent EU summit seems to be equally cause for concern. The two main issues being Turkey (or enlargement, substitute one for the other) and the Constitution. Two items which, with present circumstances such as they are, nobody really wants to talk about.

You have to admire the optimism of Spanish PM Zapatero, who has offered to host a "friends of the constitution" conference and is confident that "real progress" can be made. Heart-warming as the prospect is, you have to wonder what planet he's really on.

There does seem to be a curious paradox occuring, as the boundaries of the EU race eastwards at a rate of knots while internal indifference & institutional unease seem to be the causes of the state of stagnation on the inside, it's almost as if the former is happening primarily to detract attention from the latter.

That strategy can only work for so long. And now the "stalemate" seems to apply to both the constitution and the question on future member states. Enlargement fatigue does seem to be well & truly here, though Barroso still seems ready & raring to go, for another round, the sentiment doesn't appear widepsread.

At this stage, nobody seems to want to step up and take the initiative to get the ball rolling on these much talked about euro-reforms, whatever shape they may take, in terms of revising decisional procedures and whatnot. Despite all the talk, even Germany & France (dubbed the "moteurs de l'Europe" by July) seem uninspired, and with all but one of the French presidential candidates marked by "euro-indifference", arguably worse than euro-scepticism, the outlook appears dim.

In the meantime, the ceaseless back & forth on the Constitution trundles along, no-one is getting fired up about Turkey anymore, there seems to be a general, if temporary, hand-washing of both projects. Even the sceptics seem to have settled down, at least for the time being, to a mode of passive discontent on the borders & immigration question.

It's almost unfortunate that there is no "crisis", if only for the sake of its mobilising power. There is only grumbling, shrugging of shoulders, and ultimately - turning of backs.