The European Union has released a video today, explaining the causes of the financial crisis and outlining why closer economic and political union is the solution.
It's called Emerging stronger from the crisis: the European vision.
It starts by pointing the finger of blame over the Atlantic, explaining how European countries had to pump massive sums into their banking sector after the US sub-prime crisis struck, bringing down Lehman Brothers and sparking global turmoil.
Thus, EU leaders protected the value of the euro, and "successfully shielded eurozone countries from the worst effects of the economic crisis...." (tell that to Greece).
But the cost of protecting Europe triggered the sovereign debt crisis, with a loss of confidence in "certain countries" leading to the present problems.
The key lesson of the crisis was Europe needed to build a deeper economic union to complement its existing monetary union, and to ensure that public finances are sustainable.
Thus, the video argues, we need closer banking supervision, the European Stability Mechanism, a stronger European parliament, and more meaningful political union.
The video certainly goes a good job of explaining Brussels' approach to the situation.
However, it does rather skirt over some of the other reasons Europe is in such a mess today – eg, a single currency union covering such divergent countries, the challenge of implementing austerity without devaluation, the lack of political leadership in the early stages of the crisis.... maybe they're in another video?....
Best watched alongside Ian Traynor's analysis of Project Europe, I reckon.
Bruno Waterfield, the Daily Telegraph's man in Brussels, isn't too impressed either:
The propagandist's view: in 4 years of #eurozone fudge and can kicking EU decisions only made things better. Oh yeahyoutube.com/watch?v=0B3zNc…
— Bruno Waterfield (@BrunoBrussels) September 12, 2012
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