@HundertzehnGustav
You are absolutely right in your assumption that in order to survive we need to work together, although precisely what form this takes is open up to debate, which I agree isn't done often enough. On this topic, I recommend work by Alan S. Milward, whose analysis of the reasons behind the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community, the first step toward the EU, points to the possibility to save the nation state in a completely new and hostile post WW2 environment.
I personally have to thank Skybird for introducing me to a more EU-critical stance. One doesn't have to reject it in order to question some elements and I dislike individuals on both sides of the debate that are completely inflexible and unwilling to see the other side of the coin. It is also true that the EU isn't debated enough, or more precisely, it is not presented in its true complexity. This will sound like elitist bull, but from my experience a lot of people change their opinion from a EU-rejection to EU-critical stance once you take the time and present and meat and the bones of how things are done in the EU, and not just the simplified, easy-to-digest morsels fed by the media. However, I also agree that this takes time and effort and most people will not do it. This is why, in my opinion, the EU is currently stuck between moving forward and lingering into obscurity. One part is the capabilities-expectations gap, another is the misunderstanding of the fundamental elements of EU policy and decision-making.
@August, things are bad in the EU right now, with unemployment and zero growth (outside Germany, Poland and some select few), but not with the EU as such, or that is what I would claim. The European Council (composed of Heads of State and Government) has taken on a leading role in the crisis solving, much to the detriment of the European Commission, which is supposed to represent the general interest of the EU and be the driving motor with its policy proposals. So in the middle of the crisis, we have minor institutional wrangling (although the president of the Commission has more or less accepted his role of subservience to the European Council) and the Parliament is being loud with its new found right to give assent on the new multiannual financial framework (consider it as the ultimate budgetary constraint for the next 7 years). Mix this with the crisis and the fact that the EU cannot do most if not all of the stuff the citizens want it to (like social security and rights) and that it depends on the Member States for the funding of its programmes, and you have a hell of time getting stuff done. This of course, reflect badly on the entire EU in the public, with the different relations and rules not being as clear on the first look.
So yeah, another fun day in EU-ville. Come join me for another exciting adventure
