European Union

Paris. -- Self-inflicted wounds are the worst, and Western Europe today reels from them, wounds of uncalculated ambition and failure of foresight. The European monetary union has in recent days been battered again by speculators, but this has also been a consequence of the plan's own overreaching ambition -- an ambition the European governments have not had the means to fulfill.The danger now is grievous enough for some in Brussels to forecast the collapse of European unity itself, if currency union eventually goes.

As European leaders meet this week in an attempt to once again shoo reality away from the continent's respirator, countries outside the European Union are making it increasingly clear that they'll have no role in prolonging the charade. Cyprus has just asked for a bailout from the EU's ATM, joining Greece, Ireland, Portugal and, most recently, Spain. So what's the excuse this time? Apparently Cyprus' intimate exposure to the Greek economy was more than enough economic Ebola. So another beggar's cup starts rattling just in time for yet another summit of European leaders.

LONDON -- Playing a high-stakes game to try to whip his own back-bench critics into line, Prime Minister John Major said yesterday that his Conservative government would resign and would call a new election if it failed to win a parliamentary vote Monday on payments to the European Union.The move was intended to overcome a rebellion by so-called Euro-skeptics in the party, those who are fighting to prevent Britain from merging into Europe, as called for by the Maastricht Treaty on European Union.

During one of his stand-up routines, comedian and late-night host Jon Stewart told a joke that encapsulated the often misunderstood relationship between the United States and Canada. Said Mr. Stewart, "A Canadian came up to me and asked, 'What do Americans really think about Canada?' And I was like, 'We don't.'" Bingo. Joke, truth, and a growing problem, all spelled out in two words. In many ways, there is no country on Earth more important to the current and future welfare of the United States than Canada - and yet, many Americans and U.S. politicians barely give our neighbor to the north any thought at all. They should.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- At the end of a long and emotional campaign, Sweden yesterday voted solidly to abandon its Arctic isolation and join the European Union.Sweden's approval follows similar yes votes in Austria and Finland this year and is expected to give a boost to a referendum at the end of the month in neighboring Norway, where opposition has been strong.The addition of all four countries would make the EU the world's largest and richest free-trade bloc, surpassing North America, and could help speed the integration of the Eastern and Central European countries hoping to join.

PHILADELPHIA - The European Union is a wondrous construct. In five decades, it has made allies out of historic enemies and brought unprecedented prosperity to Europe. But it was created as an economic union, and its high point was the creation of a single currency, the euro. The idea that Europeans could create one super state, a United States of Europe, was a vast overreach. The EU has kept adding members, now 25, that include ex-communist states where people are willing to work for less than Western Europeans.

DUBLIN, Ireland -- Today the Irish people vote on the Maastricht treaty of European union -- and on their past, their future, their national dignity, as some perceive it, and on the fate of the unborn Irish child.They have made the referendum to rescue the Maastricht Treaty, following its defeat June 2 by the Danes, a bigger thing than anyone ever intended.They have invested it with their anxieties over matters apparently far removed from the question at hand. They have been obsessed with it.On Tuesday, a man devastated by beer slouched in a hotel bar on O'Connell Street, wavering in his chair, and drawing stares from the waiters and patrons, nearly all French, German and American tourists.

"Whether they like it or not, and whether they know it or not, all nationals of the 12 member states of the European Community woke up [yesterday] as something which [Sunday] night they were not, namely citizens of the European Union."So editorialized the Financial Times of London, but it was largely a sardonic observation. On a day devoid of celebration of this ostensibly historic event, the 12 very sovereign governments involved could not even decide whether to call themselves a rather modest "European Community," which they have been for some time, or a more grandiose "European Union."

BERGEN, Norway -- The meeting was billed as a discussion on whether Norway should join the European Union, but judging from the number of "no" buttons, most of those crowded into the tiny hall in rural Os this week had already made up their minds.They listened politely while Ranveig Froyland, a member of Parliament, told them that they would be better off inside Europe.But when Hallvard Bakke, a former government aide who opposes membership, declared that Norway should never surrender its authority or its sovereignty to unelected bureaucrats in Brussels, the audience of farmers and retirees applauded enthusiastically.

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- A hesitant but increasingly worried Western Europe took its first substantive action against Russia yesterday to register disapproval of Moscow's efforts to crush resistance in breakaway Chechnya.Speaking to a committee of the European Parliament here, European Union Foreign Affairs Commissioner Hans van den Broek announced that the EU would delay implementing an important partnership agreement with Moscow that would open the prospect of an eventual Russia-EU free trade agreement, improve the investment climate in Russia for EU-based private companies and establish regular political dialogue between Moscow and Brussels.

I've had it with this useless, ongoing charade to "save Europe. " It's time to get serious and consider jailing and impeaching some of these European Union member leaders for requisite incentive. Last week's EU show was pathetic. It made me throw a pack of gummy bears at my television screen. You'd think these European leaders were actually in a position to save others when they can't even save themselves as their own countries drown in debt. As every trained water rescuer knows, when faced with a thrashing, flailing potential drowning victim who's trying to pull you under water as you attempt to save his life, you don't let him grab hold of you. Instead, you push him away and assume the defensive "reverse-and-ready" position until you can safely approach him from under water, lift him up and swim both of you to safety.

For 125 years, Baltimore has been home to Ellicott Dredges, a heavy equipment manufacturer and the world's oldest and largest builder of medium-sized cutter suction dredges, which are used for everything from harbor maintenance to beach restoration and environmental cleanups. As a manufacturer of such a specialized product, we have to look for opportunities to market anywhere there may be a demand — which is usually outside the state of Maryland and often far beyond the borders of the United States.

Paul Volcker, the former Federal Reserve chairman and current Obama economic adviser, said this week that our esteemed rulers must consider a European-style value-added tax in order to raise the money needed to bring deficits under control. Appearing at a New York Historical Society event, Mr. Volcker also said a carbon or other energy-related tax might become necessary for the same reason. There you have it: What was once unthinkable in this country is now likely to be imposed on us because — well, because the nation's balance sheet is crimson from top to bottom.

H eaded for Europe? Today is the day countries of the European Union "spring forward," setting their clocks ahead one hour, from Standard Time to Summer Time. Their switch comes two weeks after most of the U.S. moved to Daylight Savings Time. During that period, the clock difference between Baltimore and London was just four hours. Now, it's five hours once again. European Summer Time is one hour ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), the global standard. > Read Frank Roylance's blog on MarylandWeather.

MOSCOW - Russia's natural gas monopoly drastically cut flows to Europe through Ukraine yesterday, sharpening fears of winter fuel shortages. Despite warnings from the European Union, a pricing dispute between Gazprom and Ukraine showed no signs of letting up. As the two sides traded accusations and blame, negotiations remained frozen for the sixth day. Bulgarian authorities said two-thirds of their natural gas supply had been cut off and consumption would...

BERLIN - Somali pirates firing automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades hijacked yet another ship in the Gulf of Aden yesterday, this time seizing a chemical tanker. A German military helicopter from a nearby warship arrived in time to pull three security guards out of the water, but not soon enough to prevent the hijacking of the ship and the rest of the crew. The latest attack, in which even trained security personnel aboard could not deter the pirates, demonstrated the urgent need for coordinated action by governments from Cairo to Berlin.

LONDON -- If Western Europeans look to the east, they see millions of people impoverished by almost a half-century of Communist rule, many of them ready to surge across frontiers in search of jobs and the good life in the West.If they look south, across the Mediterranean, they see more millions of desperate Arabs, who cannot find work and often chafe at living under autocratic governments, also ready to invade European shores.With 17 million Western Europeans out of work, more than 10 percent of the labor force, the prospect of a flood of migrants pouring in from either the east or the south is unsettling to all member states in the 15-nation European Union.

HARLAN Cleveland, a great internationalist and diplomat, once observed that he still had grave reservations about world government "because I might not like it, and it might not like me." But despite the globalization of commerce, nation states still define citizenship, identity and economic security.Today, citizens of the United States and Europe, facing hard times, are freshly questioning whether "one world," or even one continent, is what they really want. As a consequence, two treaties, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

However it turns out, the current fighting between Russia and Georgia - the first major military offensive by Russia outside its borders since the invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 - is likely to have long-term consequences for the United States. Georgia's independence and democracy deserve U.S. support in this crisis, and we should make that position clear. When we were in Romania a decade ago, Romanians would regularly tell us that the United States was naive about Russia. Then, Russia's economy was weak and its politics much more democratic and open than they are today.