Europe’s citizens understand that the relatively small nation-states that make up the EU are no longer able to face these enormous challenges on their own. In Ireland, last autumn’s financial crisis provoked a turnaround in public opinion about the EU, and even in Iceland, although it lies on the periphery of our continent, membership of the EU and the euro have become a priority.
欧洲的公民们已经意识到，欧盟内部那些相对较小的国家早已无力独自应对这些巨大挑战。在爱尔兰，去年夏天的金融危机让人们对欧盟的态度发生了180度的转向，甚至连一向游离于欧洲大陆之外的冰岛，欧盟成员国资格和欧元也被放在了首位。欧洲国家的利益是如此盘根错节地交织在一起，以至于那些试图用孤立的国家政策来应对金融市场规管问题的手段都变得一无是处。