Old whine in a new bottle

Newspapers are meant to provide the first draft of history while books should provide insight and new perspective that comes with the advantage of time, research and study.

The Decline and Fall of Europe by Francesco M. Bongiovanni shows very little benefit from any of these.

He has produced an up-to-date book, but rather than provide new analysis or detail about one of the biggest economic and financial events of our time, or build a persuasive argument for the end of the European unity project in its present form, the book often merely presents the blindingly obvious as insight. It never really rises above being a running commentary on events in the news.

"Europe's motto, ‘In varietate Concordia' [united in diversity], is an understatement in terms of diversity and an overstatement in terms of unity," Bongiovanni writes.

This sums up his key argument — that the European Union is a club of self-interested, opportunistic nation states run by a dysfunctional but expensive bureaucracy.

It has become a "civilisation of [increasingly unaffordable] entitlements" where citizens are more interested in protecting the social-security payments they have become addicted to and less interested in entrepreneurship and the basic hard work necessary to develop a sustainable economy. This has left much of the continent without political will, or leadership, to make the necessary social and economic reforms it needs to survive.

Yet worse, under the guise of "standardisation", the countries that dominate European institutions — such as France — are trying to reduce the competitiveness of newer member states by forcing them to introduce the same social costs which burden their economies.

Even Germany, which has defied the European economic crises with innovation and exports, is living on borrowed time as its banks are among the biggest sources of the easy loans that fuelled profligacy and asset bubbles in Greece, Spain, Ireland and Portugal, Bongiovanni warns.

Home to a costly, ageing population that is unwilling and unable to integrate young Muslims and other minorities — who they need for labour, markets and innovation — in their communities, fear of other cultures has doomed Europe to stagnation.

Bongiovanni has no doubt that "Europeans are scared of Islam", for historical and contemporary political reasons, which is in part why the EU has effectively avoided any meaningful discussion about Turkey joining the Union. This is despite its needing Turkey's young population and fast growth to boost its economic prospects. Europe's installed powers, Germany and France, are also said to be reluctant to open the doors to another heavyweight that would disrupt the delicate balance of political power they have created between them.

Bongiovanni outlines the points in clear and entertaining style. However, for anybody who has been keeping even only one eye on the economic and financial crisis, there is little new in the litany of problems facing Europe. It is well known that chronic political and social divisions in Europe have left it unable to effectively tackle its social and economic problems, or respond to the emergence of new political and economic powers.

In fact, perhaps the most valuable observation that Bongiovanni makes is that, in Europe it is the young people — those who are expected to drive economic development and social creativity — who are among the most conservative in society. Pointing to France, where the youth has been at the forefront of protests against efforts to reform the social-security system, he writes: "French youth demonstrated in 2010 because they were afraid of the future. Some carried placards saying: ‘No to reform.' Nothing can be more conservative than that." This, more than anything, bolsters Bongiovanni's conclusion that Europe is condemned to political and economic decline and falling living standards.

But perhaps his expectations — such as those of many others — were always too high. Bongiovanni correctly points out that there is no such thing as a "United States of Europe" — which makes comparisons with the United States, whose military and economic achievements are underpinned by its great fiscal, political and cultural cohesion — meaningless.

He correctly gives the European integration project credit for its greatest success, decades of peace. This is an achievement on a continent that historically has been racked by war and slaughter on an industrial scale.

And he points out that the European model, "balanced budgets and smart, fair social policies", can work, as shown by some of the Nordic nations who have the necessary resources and the fiscal and social discipline.

Chinese communist leader Zhou Enlai is thought to have commented, "It's too soon to say", when asked about the significance of the French revolution in 1789. Bongiovanni should perhaps have taken the time to find something more significant to say before rushing to print.

The Decline and Fall of EuropeBy Francesco M. Bongiovanni, Palgrave Macmillan, 312 pages, $35