EU is an Utopian concept.When you seriously analyse Nationalism , you will find it petering out to Regions,then to States within the Region,then districts,to cities.At a critical point like resoruce crunch, we will find the lowest ranked constituent(in fact it is the basic unit),will try to assert and it is justified.
Such being the case,EU shall find the going tough.
Interesting to observe that the much touted one global entity,borderless world in terms of communications and the squabble for resources fighting it out.
Story:
The European Commission is pressing for a “root-and-branch reform” of the European Union’s €140bn-a-year budget in a proposal that is stirring outrage among Europe’s regions, which risk losing their grip on vast sums of financial aid.
A Commission document obtained by the Financial Times says the EU should impose tighter national controls on funds that at present are passed directly to Europe’s regions and extend recent cuts in agricultural subsidies. It says the EU should concentrate its regional aid budget, worth almost €50bn a year, on individual member states rather than poor regions within them.
The proposal has angered representatives of rich regions in western Europe, some of which still receive aid, as well as those in poorer central and eastern Europe. All fear a renationalisation of EU aid policy that will lead to a loss of funds and influence over how money is spent.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e789fcb0-ca54-11de-a3a3-00144feabdc0.html