Less than a year into its his- toric single-currency adventure, the European Union is finding the going tough. The EU'S biggest economies are struggling, and this is not just bad luck: the economic-policy framework that the EU put in place to oversee the new regime is a chief culprit. In foreign policy, the Union is divided, with Britain supporting George Bush over Iraq, while France, Germany and others question American aims and methods. The celebrations that followed the Irish referendum on the Treaty of Nice―having voted against last year, the Irish changed their minds on October 19th-did not last long. The vote was supposed to open the door for newcomers (see page 27), but things are not so simple. Other obstacles have to be cleared first. And this is to say nothing of divisions over another grand ambition, to frame a new European constitution.
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