Europe finally unites after agreeing to treaty "European leaders yesterday hailed an agreement on the outlines of a new EU treaty to replace the ill-fated constitution rejected by French and Dutch voters two years ago." International cohesion Whatever the details of the constitutional, legal and administrative issues being discussed and approved of in Brussels - we remain sceptical - not for political but for theoretical reasons - with regards to the long-term sustainability of the European project.
1) A shared common language and identity are essential to the success of any social group. Since the emergence and consolidation of unified nation states in Europe, there has been no further linguistic convergence. Whatever the causes, this process ground to a halt a long time ago.
2) Over the last few decades, there has been a general tendency of states to fragment into smaller political units. The partition of India, the break-up of the former Soviet Union and of Yugoslavia, but also persistent secessionist desires in Italy, Belgium, the UK and in Spain come to mind.
3) Rising wealth differentials within European nations as well as continuing social atomisation and ghettoisation will exacerbate feelings of mutual distrust. While superficially, i.e. in the shape of treaties and declarations of intent, further progress may be made towards a unified Europe, the EU is fundamentally set against the tide of our times.