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I appreciate you taking a more considered interest in current affairs then most on this site. Yet, the arguments you put forward have been in circulation (mostly in Europe itself, of course) for at least ten years. There is something deeper happening. There are various strains of European development: Eurocrats of the left and right-wing type all enjoying their power; somewhat more principled socialists who would like to see a 'social Europe' including state-sponsored bottle-banks to save the environment; businessmen who have seen and still see their companies grow on the back of the single market to world dominance; conservatives who dislike the EU but are in favor of a European market in the loose sense of the word; the European parliament sending the Commission home because of fraud, due to a Dutch whistle-blower I am happy to report; the bourses of Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam merging into one bourse which has just bought Liffe, the futures exchange in London. Get me right: I do not like the EU. But again, to portray it in simple terms as a battle between socialism and capitalism is lunacy. It misses the point entirely.

There is no such thing as 'European unemployment'. Dutch unemployment stands at 2%, the lowest in the Western world. Believe it or not, it happens to be the truth. Droning on about flexible labor markets is fine, but it will not happen. An Irishman will not go looking for a job in Italy at the age of 50. It is just not going to happen. Would you move to MExico to find a job if you lost yours at the age of 50? Maybe you would, but you would be one of the few.

The idea that somehow England is not a welfare-state and a shining exception to the European rule is such a fallacy, I do not know where to begin. If I get the sack today, I will be able to live in my flat in the most expensive area of town, paid for by the government. This would never happen in Holland. Just an example, but it may show you that things are a little more complicated than often portrayed.

Thanks for your #100. Of course you are right European politics are complex. I think you summarize well the various constituencies supporting European political integrattion. And I agree, unfortunately, that some are conservative or pro-business.

I also agree that many of the ideas I discussed have been knocking around Europe for many years. That's what is so frustrating.

The point about labor market deregulation is not to foster cross-border markets, but rather to allow easier hiring and firing within the country. Businesses hire more when they know they can fire during lean times. Start-ups are much easier. Holland deregulated its labor market which is why unemployment there is so low. France and Germany have not and suffer high unemployment. France and Germany are a whole lot bigger than Holland, hence the European unemployment rate and problem.

The point about Britain is not that it is not a welfare state, of course it is, but rather Britain takes a more American view of labor regulation and therefore enjoys lower unemployment as a result.

It is frustrating to watch Europe drift toward a super-state, aided and abetted by the groups you describe. If France and Germany continue to dominate the EU, the new state would be run by social democrats, who seem to dominate the commission. Real economic reform would be unlikely. Europe would oppose US policy in the middle east and elsewhere more boldly. And Europe would become more authoritarian.

Combine this with continental judges who seem determined to put on trial as a "war criminal" or some such thing any conservative foreign leader they dislike, and thereby attempt to dictate policy to other nations and you would have the potential for much mischief.

It is my hope Europe will pull back and declare itself an economic union with no goal of creating a federal Europe, leaving matters of personal liberty, labor regulation, taxation, foreign policy and the like to the member states. The nation states guaranty individual liberty and democratic government far more effectively than would a superstate. As you so well point out, one size does not fit all in Europe.