The crisis of European economic and monetary union seems to confirm a long-standing belief that monetary union cannot survive without political union. I belonged to a group that argued that the euro should have been preceded – or at least accompanied – by political union. Many observers are now interpreting the European Union’s manifold financial rescue measures to support Greece as a step in the direction of political union. Therefore, should people like me not be happy with this development?
In fact, the opposite is true. Connecting the initial idea of a political union with developments currently under way is both logically flawed and politically dangerous. In short: a consistent concept of a political union should be based on a constitution, and imply a European government controlled by a European Parliament, elected according to democratic principles.
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