THIS IS VERY MUCH A WORK IN PROGRESS. THE WAY I SEE IT, WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO HAVE A UNIFIED EUROPE EVENTUALLY. I'M GOING TO WRITE ABOUT SOME OF MY (ADMITTEDLY INCONSEQUENCIAL) IDEAS ON HERE AND I'D LOVE TO KNOW WHAT PEOPLE THINK OF THEM. HERE'S THE FIRST BIT OF THE FIRST BIT (BEAR WITH ME - IT'LL BE A WHILE BEFORE I'VE ORGANISED MY THOUGHTS ENOUGH TO WRITE MORE).
What do you mean, Europe?
We are all Europeans. We are all, across this continent, the same. We have our own foibles and idiosyncrasies, our own traditions and national sports; these will not change but our common ideology – of fairness and democracy for all – will only be enhanced by unification. We will be able to travel more freely and learn from one another. How does a combination of British good-sense, German efficiency and Italian style sound? We will save on the cost of our health services and government and a common rule of law and tax will make Europe a safer, fairer place. A unified Europe will be able to compete more effectively against the rising Asian economies and will hold more influence over the United States of America and against rogue states such as North Korea and Israel.
These are the countries which would be unified under a European republic. Ideally, they would all be unified at the same time but it is acknowledged that this would be difficult to achieve. The borders of each country would remain largely unaltered as administrative regions, although the small countries of Andorra, Luxemburg and Monaco would be abolished and incorporated into their neighbouring region (France).
The countries selected for their geographic and cultural properties are as follows:
Albania
Andorra
Austria
Belgium
Czechoslovakia
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Great Britain
Hungary
Iceland
Iceland
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxemburg
Moldova
Monaco
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
The Netherlands
Yugoslavia (that was)
A city at the centre of Europe would be designated the European capital (probably Geneva) and this is where all of the offices and associated machinery of European government would be located. The new country would be unified in currency, tax, education, healthcare, foreign policy, military, law, judiciary and transport. There would be an elected President of Europe and an elected European Parliament (not as it is now) and there would be an elected regional assembly for each country. In Britain the Monarchy and the House of Lords would be abolished.
(Each of these subjects and more will be explored in detail soon.)
The alternative is splendid isolation, which will not remain splendid for long. A stagnant democracy is no democracy at all. We must grow together with our European neighbours to help each other prosper and grow in harmony.
All we need is love.
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