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Denmark may keep Prague at EU gates Europe will spend considerable time glossing over the no-go-on-euro vote by the feisty Danes, but there's no denying that both the spiritual and commercial notion of single, indivisible Europe has lapsed into a crisis of confidence and of failed expectations. Less than two years ago, the Continent launched the euro amid verve and expectation. Only Britain, its own economy booming, seemed consciously intent on maintaining its distance from the new euro-chic club; London was, in some respects, the Denmark of the party. All that has changed. Sterling is now on harder times, in line with all European currencies, and no one quite knows what's around the corner as the U.S. presidential tussle plays itself out. When the Danish euro polls looked good, Brussels billed the vote as a bellwether, a confidence builder it needed to sell the idea of a common currency not only to London, but also to Stockholm -- another rich, Don't Tread on Me holdout. Now, with considerable irony (given Denmark's excellent economic health), it asserts that Copenhagen will miss out on growth opportunities. Growth may be in the euro's forecast, but the weather is still cloudy and grim. The G7's euro intervention in September was, judging from the currency's behavior, hardly more than a painkiller. The Danish vote, seen as a popular backlash by a small, prosperous nation against political interference from Brussels, exposes the fragility of the whole euro enterprise. But what does it say about the future of the Czech Republic, whose wobbly economy is hardly what the EU wishes to absorb -- whether in 2003 or 2005? The same query applies to Hungary and Poland. No surprise that Austrian Finance Mini-ster Karl-Heinz Grasser claimed the Danish result highlighted "the worries and concerns of the people over the role of smaller countries in making [EU] decisions." Vienna has already felt the wrath of Brussels over Jorg Haider and has felt lonely (only Germany has followed its lead) in assailing the Czech Republic's nuclear plans at Temelin. It hopes the Danish "no" will hike its small-nation stock. But the basic problem concerns fracture. The Danish vote is proof that a multi-track Europe is not impossible. One level might comprise, say, upscalers like France, Germany, Italy and the Benelux nations. Another tier might number eager minnows like Austria and Spain. Yet a third group could embrace laggards Portugal and Greece. That would leave the central and eastern nations, when they arrive, in a troubled group four. What's distressing about this not-unlikely prospect is that it disguises an old Europe under a new cloak. When you create double standards in school, it doesn't take long for low-end pupils to think they're neither loved nor needed. The risks are great, so great that it serves no purpose for European Central Bank President Wim Duisenberg to whine about missed opportunities. Instead, the EU must focus its December summit in Nice on how to woo London, Copenhagen and Stockholm. Until it persuades internal skeptics, Brussels will hardly have time to turn its attention eastward, let alone look persuasive in the process.
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The Prague Post Online contains a selection of articles that have been printed in The Prague Post, a weekly newspaper published in the Czech Republic.
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