Sir, - Mr McCreevy, in his successive budgets, has provoked the European Commission. The reprimand Ireland is now facing is something he has done nothing to avoid. The Irish Government seems tired of Europe. It feels closer to Boston than to Berlin.
One has to wonder why, when Boston and Berlin are becoming so much alike. The President of the Commission, Mr Prodi, reminds us that last year, under the Portuguese Presidency, Europe chose for itself a future based on competitiveness and the primacy of market values over social concerns, a line which was confirmed at the Nice Summit. Europe is aligning itself so closely to the American model that even its new-born army is being subsumed into NATO. Next, its currency will probably be pegged to the dollar!
Just as there is little for electors to choose between one political party and the next, there will soon be little to choose between the US and the EU. Yet democracy is about choice. How have we, citizens of Europe, allowed this to happen?
Denis Staunton writes (News Features, February 7th): "The question we must answer is not whether we want to be part of Europe but what kind of Europe we want." Let's hope we will be asked that question. - Yours, etc.,
Claudine Gaidoni, Ailesbury Grove, Dundrum, Dublin 16.