The collapse of the Eurozone crisis talks is a perfect illustration of just how misguided the idea of the European project was from the start. The reason the talks have broken down is that the leaders of the Eurozone are too limited in their room for manoeuvre by the domestic politics of their home countries. If those countries were single party states and their leaders dictators – as they were at various points in the case of Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Austria, Estonia, Slovakia and Slovenia – closer political integration might at least be a possibility. But given that all 17 nation states that make up the Eurozone are liberal democracies, not to mention the additional 10 countries that sit alongside them in the EU, the chances of them ever agreeing on a common fiscal and economic policy are vanishing to zero. The democratic politics of the member states are simply too messy and disputatious – too cantankerous and choleric – to allow that to happen. The Italian Cabinet cannot even agree on a common retirement age. Little wonder that the 17 leaders of the Eurozone can't reach an agreement about how to reduce Greece's debts or expand the bail out fund. (To read more, click here.)
