[hershey]

I was talking about Europe competing economically against the US...nothing wrong with that, and maybe consumers would benefit worldwide. But I was keeping mum about the wisdom of stuffing all those European countries (cats), in the same burlap sack and hoping for nirvana.

[Slipperduke]

There is an argument that if you assigned the right nations to the right departments, it might work.

We'll take Foreign Policy, the Germans can have the economy, the French can do the catering and the Swedish can bring the girls.

[tjwmason]

I was talking about Europe competing economically against the US...nothing wrong with that, and maybe consumers would benefit worldwide.

Competition between European countries and the U.S. would be a good thing, however that is definitely not on the E.U. agenda. The whole purpose of 'economic rivalry' is the creation of a fortress-Europe inside which goods and services move freely, but outside of which only lip-service is paid to the concept of free-trade or competition. The E.U. like competition between Europe and the U.S. as long as it's of the Boeing-Airbus style (one side highly state-funded).