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The financial crisis : how Europe can save the world

Europe's last chance : why the European states must form a more perfect union

"In the heart of Europe's current crisis, one of the continent's foremost statesmen urges for a radical remaking of the European Union in the model of the United States The diseases that plague Europe respect no borders. Guy Verhofstadt, former prime minister of Belgium and a leader in the European Parliament, shows that wherever we look-from the debt crisis in Greece to the rise of political Islam across Europe, the Syrian refugee crisis to Putin's aggressive imperialism-we see colossal challenges far too large for any single nation to overcome. In Europe's Last Chance, Verhofstadt proposes that Europe abandon the artificial divisions of nation-states and instead embrace a unified democracy on a continental scale: a United States of Europe. Revealing how this seemingly impossible dream nearly became a reality in 1953-when only a last-minute vote by the French parliament stopped a political and military unification of France, West Germany, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands-Verhofstadt builds a powerful and surprising argument for the necessity of unity; so that Europe remains secure, influential, and prosperous into the future"--"The diseases that plague Europe know no borders. The terrorist attacks in France; the refugee crises of Syria and Libya; the aggression of Putin's Russia; the financial meltdown and sputtering economy: all existential threats to Europe's future that cannot be solved by any one state alone. Yet in the face of these colossal challenges, Europe's politicians squabble as impotently as they once did in the lead-up to the Second World War. Without drastic action and fresh vision, Europe will slip into parochial oblivion; leaving its allies--such as the United States--alone against Russia, China, ISIS, and other undemocratic adversaries. For Europe, and her American allies, this really is the last chance. But what is the right path foreword for the continent? The answer, according to Guy Verhofstadt, is for Europe to remake itself in the model of the United States of America. The former Prime Minister of Belgium, Guy Verhofstadt is currently the leader of a powerful center-left coalition in the European Parliament, and he has seen first-hand the dismal failings and pernicious stalemates of Europe's leadership. As it stands Europe suffers from the worst of both worlds, with the EU combining the bureaucracy and obstinacy of empire with all the divisiveness and bigotry of old nationalisms. Much as America's sovereign states traded self-government for the security, efficiency, and prosperity of a federal government--and thus laid the foundation for the immense wealth and power of the U.S. today--so too must Europe's independent nations accept the mantle of federalism so as to remain prosperous and influential into the future"--Europe is caught in its greatest crisis since the Second World War. The catalog of ills seems endless: an economic crisis spread through most of Europe's Mediterranean tier that has crippled Greece and driven a wedge between northern and southern Europe; terrorist attacks in Paris, Cologne, Brussels, and Nice; growing aggression from Russia in Ukraine and the Baltic states; and refugees escaping war-torn neighbors. The European Union's inability to handle any of these disasters was a driving factor in Great Britain voting to leave, and others may soon follow. The result won't just be a continent in turmoil, but also a serious threat to American and British security-the Atlantic, let alone the Channel, simply isn't big enough to keep European troubles in Europe. For everyone's sake, Europe must survive. The question is how. In Europe's Last Chance, Guy Verhofstadt-former prime minister of Belgium and current leader of the liberal faction in the European Parliament-provides the essential framework for understanding Europe today, laying bare the absurdity of a system in which each member state can veto legislation, opt in or out of the Euro, or close borders on a whim. But Verhofstadt does not just indict the European Union, he also offers a powerful vision for how the continent can change for the better. The key, argues Verhofstadt, is to reform the European Union along the lines of America's federal government: a United States of Europe strong enough to stand with the United States of America in making a better, safer world. A visionary book from one of today's luminaries of European leadership, Europe's Last Chance is a clarion call to save the European Union, one of the world's greatest chances for peace and prosperity.

Debout l'Europe! : manifeste pour une révolution postnationale en Europe ; suivi d'un entretien avec Jean Quatremer

"L'Europe est en crise. Comment en est-on arrivé là ? Qu'est-ce qui n'a pas fonctionné ? Dans l'urgence, les États de la zone euro ne sont-ils pas en train de créer un monstre adémocratique ? L'euroscepticisme est-il réactionnaire ? Une fédération à 27 pourrait-elle fonctionner efficacement ? Ce livre est un appel. Un appel qui s'adresse à l'intelligence de chaque citoyen. Un exercice de lucidité et une incitation à la réflexion. Un cri d'alarme aussi. Le ton est franc, enflammé, les arguments implacables : "L'Europe doit une fois pour toutes se défaire du nombrilisme de ses États-nations. Une révolution radicale s'impose. Une révolution européenne de grande ampleur. Une Union fédérale européenne doit voir le jour. Une Union qui permette aussi rapidement que possible à l'Europe de participer au monde postnational de demain. Par facilité, lâcheté et manque de vision, trop de chefs d'État et de gouvernement préfèrent ne pas voir ce qui est en jeu. Réveillons-les. Confrontons-les à leur impuissance. Ne leur laissons pas un jour de repos. Et montrons-leur la voie vers cette autre Europe, l'Europe du futur, l'Europe des Européens." L'ère de la gesticulation aux Sommets est révolue, le moment est venu de la réalisation."--P. [4] of cover.