A European Union with 27 gears

"What is the EU for ?" wonders the editorialist Lucio Caracciolo, noting that on numerous occasions the countries that form it prefer to act independently of one another. He fears that the election of Nicolas Sarkozy will do little to improve this situation. "First Romano Prodi, then Giorgio Napolitano - our leaders have adopted a serious tone to warn us about the state of the EU, thus indicating that even at the highest level of the Italian State, it is acknowledged that the crisis that Europe is going through is not only a crisis of expansion, but a real crisis of identity ... . Sarkozy's victory seals the idea of a Europe with 27 gears. The new French president has already confirmed that national interests will guide his action and that he will make a big point of consolidating France in an informal executive board of three: Paris, Berlin and London. Rome, Madrid and Warsaw have been pushed back into a second division".

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