LEADERLESS IN EUROPE / THE NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL ( A MUST READ )

Editorial

June 28, 2011

Leaderless in Europe

The survival of the common European Union currency, free movement across national borders and trans-Atlantic collective security are all in serious doubt. Europe’s leaders are in denial or paralyzed.

How could any European leader let these pillars of the Continent’s well-being be jeopardized? The problem is there are no European leaders, just a German chancellor, a French president, an Italian prime minister and others who profess a continental vision but never look much beyond their local political interests.


Europe’s unraveling is also a problem for Americans. A fracturing of the euro could drag down the global economy. A breakdown of NATO would mean the United States would have to bear an even bigger security burden. More than a year into their debt crisis, major European leaders are still unable to make the necessary tough decisions. The constructive way out would be to restructure excessive debt, recapitalize affected banks and relax austerity enough to let debtor countries — Greece, Ireland and Portugal are most at risk — grow their way back to solvency. No one country could afford to finance such a solution, but Europe as a whole could.


In a welcome concession to reality, France’s president, Nicolas Sarkozy, announced that French banks are now prepared to “voluntarily” extend the maturity of some Greek debt. That could help, but only if all of Europe follows France’s lead — Germany’s banks have yet to sign on — and then eases its pressure on Athens for still more austerity. Selling this to European voters will require politicians to tell the truth. The alternative is to let the euro-zone break apart and trade suffer across the Continent.

The opening of most European internal borders over the past two decades has been an economic boon. But almost every country has also seen an alarming rise of anti-immigrant political parties. Economic crisis and the arrival of tens of thousands of Tunisian and Libyan refugees have pushed this xenophobia to new levels. France, Italy and Denmark have sought to selectively opt out of the historic Schengen agreement, with its passport-free borders. The refugee problem is also too big for any one country to handle. It, too, requires real European leadership.


Europe’s early response to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s brutality in Libya was promising. France pushed hard for international action, and NATO allies agreed to assume leadership after a round of American airstrikes.


But the cost of years of military underinvestment by most European members quickly became clear, as they had to turn to Washington for bombs and other basic support. Collective defense always assumed that America would come to Europe’s aid against a superpower like the Soviet Union. But European NATO’s inability to master a minor challenge like Libya should frighten every defense ministry in Europe.


Americans are weary of war — and fear of weakening NATO no longer deters politicians, as the fight over the Libya campaign has made clear. We don’t know how much longer voters here will support an alliance in which the United States shoulders 75 percent of the military spending and a much higher percentage of the fighting.


Europe’s leaders need to find some broader vision of their own quickly, or Europeans — and their American allies — could pay a huge price.