Frank Lee - "it isn't clear what damage an EU train wreck would cause"

1)  Economic collapse from over-regulation and over-taxation i.e. race to the bottom to labor protection and tax harmonization with Swedish taxes and French labor laws.

2)  Loss of sovereignty of member states with all laws coming from Brussels.  I live in Holland where we have euthanasia, gay marriage, legal weed, legal prostitution and legal abortion.  With only 18 million people The Netherlands has no chance of defending itself against legislation from France and Germany (let alone if Turkey enters).

3)  Lack of border control.  When Spain grants amnesty to millions of african peasants there is nothing stopping them from coming up here to live of the much more generous welfare in the north.

I suspect I disagree with most of the editorial staff here on political issues but I also suspect our conclusions about the EU are the same.  Anyone else?

Guy Verhofstadt: "The United States of America also did not come about in unison. At the time, only nine of the 13 British crown colonies voted in favour. The rest tailed behind and accepted the agreement later."

This statement makes it evident that Mr. Verhofstadt considers the EEC and EU as precursors towards establishing a federal United States of Europe; clearly statehood is far beyond mere military, economic and limited political cooperation between European states. However, unlike the newly independent colonies, European states are well established nation-states, whose peoples demand popular national sovereignty.

Yes, and less than a hundred years later, the South tried to break loose from the Union because of the North's protective economic measures. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it!

Train arrived, sixteen coaches long
Train arrived, sixteen coaches long
Well that long black train got my baby and's gone

Train, train. Coming right round the bend
Train, train. Coming right round the bend
Well it took my baby, but it never will again

Train, train. Coming on down this line
Train, train. Rolling on down the line
Well its bringin' my baby, cos she's mine all mine
Mine all mine, mine all mine

Train, train. Coming round this bend
Train, train. Coming right round the bend
Well it took my baby, but it never will again
No, no, no. Never again.

From this side of the Atlantic, it isn't clear what damage an EU train wreck would cause.  Can you folks explain?  Do you mean bitter diplomatic infighting among the (former?) member states?  Or economic waste like that experienced by Airbus right now?  Or do you just mean the embarrassment of failure, which doesn't strike me as all that significant.

“The train has to drive on anyway” – too right it does! Right bang smack into the buffers of reality at about 200 mph.

It won’t be a pretty sight but it’ll put an end to EUtopian dreaming for the foreseeable future. I only hope by the time it happens the British carriage is parked up on a siding somewhere – the rest of the carriages having long ago uncoupled it for holding them back.  

"the British Government block the new attempt for agreement on the constitutional treaty"

Yes. The EU is a train wreck in slow motion. I actually moved to europe because I actually believed in the Lisbon agenda. Now I realize the EU is just a bad joke doomed to fail. The only unknown is how much the total damage will be and how expensive.