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Jewish World Review March 26, 2007 / 7 Nissan, 5767 Happy Birthday, EU! (But forget the party) By Niall Ferguson http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Last week, I went to Paris for lunch. I took the Eurostar. I paid with my Societ- G-n-rale credit card. I bought my Metro ticket with euros. In making my travel plans — train not plane, Metro not taxi — I was mindful of the European Union's new commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions. In the restaurant, my French was rather rusty, but the waiters were happy to speak in English. They were probably Polish anyway. So you can understand why (especially after three delicious courses and half a bottle of Bordeaux) I felt ready to toast the Treaty of Rome, the founding charter of the present-day European Union, which was signed 50 years ago today. Who could possibly wish to return Europe to its pre-1957 state of fragmentation? Twice in the last half a century the Continent had torn itself apart. When peace finally came in 1945, whole cities lay in ruins. People were starving. Currencies were reduced to worthless paper. So totally has life in Europe been transformed since then that you might expect the European Union to be universally adored at 50. Yet that is not the case. Only 46% of European Union citizens have a positive view of the EU, while more than a third believe their country has not benefited from EU membership. Support for the EU is lowest in Britain, where just 1 in 3 people regards EU membership in a positive light. Does this merely illustrate the truth of the old saying that no good deed goes unpunished? Or are Europeans right to be somewhat Euro-skeptical? Take the issue of the avoidance of war. The truth is that the EU has not been the principal guarantor of Europe's peace. Rather, it was the American-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization that (in the famous phrase of NATO's first secretary-general) kept "the Soviets out, the Americans in and the Germans down." What about the claim that the European Union has generated the Continent's present prosperity? This is certainly not to be underestimated. True, in terms of raw output per capita, the United States is still ahead, but by a range of other measures it is Europeans who are better off. Whereas the average American worked about 1,800 hours in 2005, the average Austrian, Dane, Dutchman, Frenchman or German worked fewer than 1,500 hours. At least six EU countries have higher productivity (measured by gross domestic product per hour worked) than the United States. Europe is also fairer: Income inequality is greater in the U.S. than in any EU country. And Europe is healthier too. According to recent research, Europeans are living as much as 15 months longer than Americans. There is even evidence that they are growing taller too. Whereas the average American 60-year-old is about an inch taller than his or her German counterpart, among 20-year-olds it's the other way round. Yet Europeans are probably right not to give the EU much of the credit for their high standard of living. One of the paradoxes of European integration has been that, even as the EU has expanded its range of responsibilities, so too have national governments. Government expenditure today is a much larger share of gross domestic product than it was in 1957. Indeed, it is hard to find a clear "EU effect" on economic growth. Between 1973 and 1998, for example, non-members did just as well as new members and better than founding members. Growth after 1957 was determined more by national policies and by global economic conditions than by European integration. As we mark the EU's 50th birthday, then, let's remember what the Treaty of Rome actually did. It committed six countries to create a customs union (with a single external tariff and gradually reduced internal trade barriers) and common policies for agriculture, transport and social policy. That was all. Much has happened since those days, of course. The six have become 27. Thirteen of them now share their own currency. European law now reigns supreme. And the customs union has become a (still imperfect) single market. Yet, at root, the EU remains not the federal super-state of conservative nightmares but a confederation whose primary concern is trade policy. The deal reached with the U.S. last week on transatlantic air routes is far from perfect, but it is a great deal better than any individual European state could have hoped to achieve by negotiating solo. The real reason that the EU is unloved is the often glaring discrepancy between its aspirations and this somewhat prosaic reality. And yet Europe's leaders persistently refuse to see this. No sooner have they quietly acknowledged that they have no chance of making Europe "the most competitive and the most dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world" by 2010 — the goal set at Lisbon in 2000 — than they embark on an equally unrealistic plan for a 20% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2020. Am I the only person in Europe wondering how cheaper transatlantic air fares are going to help achieve this? Oh, what the hell. The next time I want lunch in Paris, perhaps JetBlue will be flying a shuttle. Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here. BUY THE BOOKS Click HERE to purchase it at a discount. (Sales help fund JWR.). Click HERE to purchase it at a discount. (Sales help fund JWR.). Niall Ferguson is a professor of history at Harvard University. He is the author of "Empire" (Basic Books, 2003) and "Colossus" (Penguin, 2004). Comment by clicking here. 03/19/07: Khalid Shaikh Mohammed claims Washington as a hero, and the U.S. tortures — such is the “osmosis of war” 03/07/07: Colonialism didn't cause Africa's problems, and aid alone won't fix them 02/27/07: Provoking dislike throughout the world is part of being an empire 02/21/07: Obama's muddled stance on foreign intervention 02/06/07: Britain's American revolution 01/30/07: Independence isn't always beautiful 01/09/07: The new world order looks terribly familiar 12/16/06: The new world order looks terribly familiar 12/13/06: Baker-Hamilton's fine print: Stay in Iraq 12/05/06: The surrealism of Iraq 11/29/06: Some civil wars never end 11/20/06: Will GOP get last laugh? 10/25/06: America's brittle empire 10/17/06: Failing to stop North Korea from going nuclear may have been the last straw for the onetime guardian of world order 10/03/06: Why Churchill opposed torture 09/27/06: Insanity on a Global Scale 09/19/06: The GOP will hang on 09/13/06: Long Live Royal Bloodlines! 09/05/06: Red-state Republicans and blue-faced liberals are starting to agree: Green is the way 08/29/06: What if the London Bombers Succeeded? 08/15/06: Testing the Limits of the U.N.: Who seriously expects Kofi Annan to stop Al Qaeda terror attacks? 08/08/06: The coming tsunami of trash 07/18/06: Forget the '60s and ‘Make Love, Not War.’ Today's world is facing a Summer of Rage 07/11/06: When will China pull the plug on North Korea? 06/20/06: Hedge funds vs. central bankers: Will inflation, deflation or recession win in the coming months? 06/13/06: Britain's economy is just like America's — minus the entrepreneurs and growth 06/06/06: The X-Men have taken over Washington 05/30/06: Quit protesting, profs! 05/23/06: World markets' wild ride: Economic volatility is back with a vengeance 05/16/06: The Cold Wars are coming 05/09/06: Many commentators are missing dangerous political shift 05/02/06: Put some sugar in your tank 04/25/06: Hu and the dog that didn't bark 04/18/06: Should Americans be less optimistic? 04/11/06: Globalization's second death? 04/04/06: So many ‘special’ friends 03/28/06: Let's get it right about what has gone wrong 03/21/06: Congress is trying to give the world a globotomy 03/14/06: Lame ducks can still bite back 03/07/06: A 19th Century critique of a 21st Century president 02/28/06: The crash of civilizations 02/21/06: Not the president, but close 02/14/06: Want historic trouble? Look south 02/07/06: Greenspan advising Britain? It's housing bubbles, deficits and potential meltdowns all over again 01/31/06: Missing the Cold War 01/24/06: It's a sick, Thick World 01/17/06: Tomorrow's world war today 01/03/06: Scotland, it's over, but keep the accents 12/20/05: History, democracy and Iraq 12/20/05: History, democracy and Iraq 11/22/05: Ghost of Napoleon haunts Tony Blair 11/22/05: Can it happen in Britain too? 11/15/05: Red plus blue equals purple 11/10/05: The fires of disintegration 11/01/05: Triumph of an über-wonk © 2006, Los Angeles Times Distributed by Los Angeles Times Syndicate

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