George Soros:
The European Union was brought into existence by what Karl Popper called “piecemeal social engineering”. A group of far-sighted statesmen, inspired by the vision of a United States of Europe, recognised that this ideal could be approached only gradually, by setting limited objectives, mobilising the political will needed to achieve them and concluding treaties that required states to surrender only as much sovereignty as they could bear politically. That is how the postwar Coal and Steel Community was transformed into the EU – one step at a time, understanding that each step was incomplete and would require further steps in due course.
The EU’s architects generated the necessary political will by drawing on the memory of the second world war, the threat posed by the Soviet Union and the economic benefits of greater integration. The process fed on its own success and, as the Soviet Union crumbled, it received a powerful boost from the prospect of German reunification.
Germany recognised that it could be reunified only in the context of greater European unification, and it was willing to pay the price.
Charles Grandt,director of the Centre for European Reform:
As Mr Soros writes, a viable plan B will require stronger eurozone governance through schemes such as Eurobonds. But in many parts of the EU, voters have never been more hostile to “more Europe”.
Of course, the current generation of European leaders is particularly ill-equipped to explain to voters the need for change.
http://blogs.ft.com/the-a-list/2011/07/11/true-europeans-now-need-a-plan-b/#ixzz1THC6ihwN
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