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Calling Out the Army
(September 5,2000)

This week Germany's private banks announced they will need army protection during the introduction of billions of euro notes and coins in January 2002.

What's this all about? The Euro is the currency of the European Union.

Let's start at the beginning. What's the European Union?

Like One Big Country

How in the world could a small nation compete with a big, powerful country like the United States?

Well, there's strength in numbers. What if a bunch of countries got together and decided to act more or less like one big country? That's exactly what's happened in Europe. The resulting European Union (EU) is now our biggest trading partner.

Bringing diverse countries together into one union is no easy task. There are thousands of things to sort out, and everybody speaks different languages. What will the official language be? Whose money do you use? What if the laws vary from country to country. Which court system will settle disputes? Who will run the union? Will you have your own flag? (Yes, blue with gold stars as above.) And who will pay for all of this?

Earlier this year, President Clinton made a week-long European trip during which he met with representatives from the 15 countries which make up the EU.

What is Europe?

A recent article in a major European magazine, the Economist, asked, "What is Europe?" You might say that Europe is in the process of trying to figure out the answer.

Many people think further integration of European nations is the way to achieve mutual interests and to forge an identity. Others think the whole idea of a united Europe is a mistake.

The United States of Europe?

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer recently suggested that EU nations go all the way and merge into one continental federation, jokingly referred to as the United States of Europe.

Many Europeans agree, saying the EU has been a great success.

On the other hand, some Europeans say the unity of Europe means losing their identity and the right to govern independently. They fear the unique aspects of their country will be lost while laws and decrees will be issued by a governing body far removed from their daily life.

Some see it as a group which adds more red tape and operates behind closed doors. It didn't help when, in the spring of 1999, a damaging report suggested there was corruption and mismanagement in the EU's executive body, the European Commission. All 20 commissioners were forced to step down.

If you live in Europe, how you feel about the EU is apt to depend on the size of your country, its level of economic development and your country's history of getting along with its neighbors.

It's So Money

When it comes to identity, there's nothing like the stuff in your wallet to illustrate what your country is all about. Money often has pictures of a country's leaders on it. And the ability to print money is one of the main tools a government has to control the local economy.

This may be why the euro has become one of the most controversial issues within the EU.

I n 1999, the euro was created to be the official currency for 11 EU member nations. The other members of the EU are still waiting to decide whether to adopt or reject the euro or have yet to meet the guidelines to participate in European Monetary Union (EMU).

There's no actual currency yet-- currently, euro countries can do business (on paper) in either their national currency, like the mark or lira, or the euro.

Paper money and coins will be introduced in January of 2002, and by July 2002, national currencies will be phased out. The idea is to have everyone in Europe using the same money.

The Euro has been called both Europe's greatest achievement and biggest blunder.

Because economics and politics are so closely entwined, the euro will pull the countries of Europe even closer together. But it also imposes the same economic policy on countries with very different economies at very different stages of the economic cycle. It hasn't helped that the exchange rate between the euro and the U.S. dollar has favored the U.S. dollar since the euro's inception.

A Strange Beast

Other big adjustments also have to be made. A sort of super structure to run the EU had to be devised from scratch.

To American understanding, the EU is a strange beast because it has legislative and judicial powers like our federal government, yet each member nation still creates and implements its own laws.

For instance, similar to the American federal branch, there's a legislative body (the European Parliament); a judicial body (the European Court of Justice) and a Council of Ministers, which acts as a sort of executive branch.

The Presidency of the EU rotates between the member countries every six months. No one person has overall leadership. The closest thing is the president of the European Commission who is appointed and serves for five years. (Former Italian Prime Minister, Romano Prodi currently holds this position.)

There's also a High Representative. This person, who looks after common foreign and security policy, is also appointed for five years. (Currently it's Javier Solana, former Secretary General of NATO).

Representatives from member nations take part in EU bodies and decide on issues such as consumer protection, economic development and regional security. If a citizen or member nation objects to EU law, they may appeal to the European Court of Justice.

A Citizen of Europe

European citizens' rights were expanded in 1993 through the Maastricht Treaty, an agreement approved by every country in the EU.

Regardless of where you were born, if you're a citizen of an EU member country you can move freely between member nations. Most important, you can work anywhere within the EU.

You also have the right to run for office in the European Parliament.

Blurring the Lines

O.K. here's another problem. What if it's fine to be gay and in the military in one member country, but it's illegal in another member country?

This is when the European Court of Human Rights steps in. In this actual case, the British military had to abolish its ban on openly gay soldiers serving.

Germany has a constitutional law banning women in its military from using weapons (they could only serve in support roles away from combat), and a woman who wanted to take full part in the military took her case to the European Court of Justice. The court upheld her rights above Germany's law.

The area of law is one of many issues where the line between the EU and the nation-state grows rather fuzzy. Yet it is this blurring of lines that is building a distinctly European identity.

The German woman said after her case was upheld, "I used to think of myself as German. Now I feel a little European, too."

The U.S. and the EU

The U.S. for its part has differing reactions to the maturing union. Henry Kissinger, the U.S. Secretary of State during the Nixon administration, said there was no telephone number for Europe, meaning he thought there was still no central line to the decision-makers for the EU. (Now there's the EU High Representative-- we mentioned him above-- but communication can still be a problem.)

While the U.S. has always supported the EU in concept, the U.S. doesn't want to see its one-on-one relationships with countries-- called bilateral relationships-- affected by the EU.

Last year, the EU approved a plan which calls for European military forces to work more closely together. While American leaders would be happy to see a European force take up more responsibility for European conflicts such as Kosovo, they are wary of any force that would compete with existing military arrangements in Europe such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

American businesses are glad to have trade agreements with all of Europe, but when those agreements mean they have to pay higher import taxes or more red tape, those same corporate interests wish for a less integrated continent.

In fact, there's an ongoing battle between the U.S. and the EU over standards for the importation of beef. The EU has banned American beef from cattle treated with growth hormones. U.S. beef producers say the meat is safe and want to be able to sell it in Europe.

With this complicated relationship, President Clinton was hard pressed to come out of his European summit with many concrete resolutions.

The question of how the EU will develop, and how America will work with it, will likely remain on the table for the time to come.

It's a big deal-- because a united Europe is a pretty big place.

--contributed by Erica Pinkston

What do you think?