ABSTRACT
In praise of Europe and yet … The progress made towards closer co-operation between Western Europe’s nationstates begun in 1945 is a remarkable achievement measured against the continent’s turbulent past. Reconciliation and reconstruction have banished warfare to Europe’s geographical margins, common institutions are now in place to address problems of mutual concern, fostering a sense of shared purpose and endeavour previously unimaginable to all except idealists. There is much to celebrate in these developments. An extensive and well-organised single market whose institutions amount to a tier of transnational governance, a sophisticated monetary system that after an unsteady start is consolidating the euro as a major global currency, common procedures for managing foreign policy, initiatives to establish a European defence capability, all confirm progress undreamt of by Europe’s long-suffering peoples at the end of the Second World War. To these achievements must be added the growing corpus of European case law and legislation covering many aspects of public policy, from macro-economic management, labour market regulation to the environment, social policy and higher education.
