欧盟是否已无路可走-.docVIP

欧盟是否已无路可走?就在最近，在日渐成为世界一极的欧洲，发生了一次政治大地震――法国和荷兰这两个欧盟的创始成员国否决了提请审议的欧洲宪法。这件事情迅速成为各国舆论的焦点，人们都在思考着这样一个问题：此事是否意味着欧洲大陆各国几十年来付出的努力即将成为泡影，欧盟将走向衰亡？ The summer got off to a bad start for the European Union. The rejection of the proposed European constitution by France and Holland, two founding members of the EU, cast fifty years of achievements in political and economic cooperation into doubt. Up to the first week of June this year, the European Union was largely seen as a remarkable success. European integration had provided a solution to age-old Franco-German rivalries and, with its recent enlargement, east-west divisions. The spectacle of Europe united out of economic interest stood in stark contrast to the memories of the First and Second World Wars and the Cold War. Lately, however, the cracks have started to appear. Europe’s handling of the U.S. invasion of Iraq was anything but united, causing the Bush administration to identify an ‘old Europe’ and a ‘new Europe’. Fears have been escalating about economic stagnation as both unemployment and inflation rises on the European continent and an increase in immigration is a controversial topic in every member state. It would appear that nationalist and protectionist tendencies are gaining ground again and that Europeans care more about their own countries than the lofty ideal of a well integrated European Union. The proposed constitution would not have created any radical change in Europe. It mostly was an attempt to strengthen some of the treaties by which the EU functioned up to now, thus making its administration more efficient. It also attempted to put a face on the EU by giving it a president and foreign minister. Many of the ‘no’ campaigners focused on these aspects and warned that, as a result, member states would ①lose control over their own foreign policies as well as be subjected to intrusion in their fiscal policies. In France, there has been a long running fear that the EU is coming under a heavy Anglo