The EU is more than the Euro & worth defending

Earlier today I wrote the following flow diagram on twitter:

EU economic crisis -> EU political crisis -> No money/will for EU Education/Social policies -> UK Unis could lose cash.

So the EU Economic crisis could affect EU Higher Education as there is not enough money to go around; thus the future of important international collaborations & student exchanges is unclear.

If cross-EU education projects are cut due to a lack of funds and a lack of confidence in the EU's aims, then future generations will be less aware of th EU's importance and the close bonds between European nations. Money - or specifically a currency - is only part of EU project. Robert Schuman saw his economic alliance as being way to political/social stability. Allowing economic issues to dominate or even end powerful this grouping of nations would be to miss out on its cultural, social and political impact.

Don't get me wrong, the Euro will most likely not exist in its current format in a year or two's time. The strongest argument I have heard is that Greece will exit (and probably sooner rather than later), a northern alliance of Germany, France, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands will develop. The role of Ireland, Spain, Portugal and Italy (each with their own economic issues) is less clear and a second level of economic union is imaginable with the likes of the UK, Denmark and Sweden remaing as part of the more political alliance. But there are an awful lot of strong relationships, close cultural/political relations have developped within the EU framework over the last 5 decades.

In other words: Eurosceptics will use this current economic crisis to condemn EU. Don't let them. The EU is far more than the Euro.

And anyway what would this do to my PhD on EU HE policy?! The introduction is almost out of date before it's finished.

#LoveEU #LoveHE