The European Union’s ambassador to the United States, Mr. Joao Vale de Almeida, addressed a large and polite audience today at the University of Iowa’s School of Law. . . .
Today Europe is in the midst of a very serious economic crisis which threatens the future of the EU itself. What changed to bring about this potentially catastrophic development? Well, Mr. Vale de Almeida told us in unequivocal words–the desire of a European elite for political integration, using the euro crisis as the vehicle.
Mr. Vale de Almeida stated that economic integration had ensured that the errors of one nation could infect all others in the bloc. But this was not possible until 17 of those nations used a common currency, the euro. A nation that uses its own, national currency cannot cause inflation in its trading partners; it can cause inflation only in its own monopolized currency zone. But now all 17 nations can transmit inflation to all other countries in the euro zone via their roundabout ability to monetize their national debts via euro printing. All 27 nations in the EU, even those such as the UK which are not using the euro, are being coerced into bailing out those nations who have used euro printing to accumulate unsustainable sovereign debt. All Europe is at odds over this proposal.
Mr. Vale de Almeida informed his audience that the EU is moving further into political unification, having recently formed the External Action Service, a kind of super foreign ministry that purports to speak for all of Europe. He claims that the EU nations already hold common foreign policy positions on 90% of the issues. No doubt this is true. But it is the other 10% that causes all the trouble.
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