Ignorance and Arrogance: Europe's Twin Pillars

Fiddling while Gothenburg burns. A grossly unfair way to sum up the latest European Summit, but the average European - and there are quite a few of us - would be forgiven for thinking that the EU has now drifted for far too long without clear direction and leadership. Things have come to a pretty pass when the rioters also start to target these kinds of gatherings as well as Davos and Seattle.

It is as if the unexpected snub by the Irish to the Nice Treaty - a low-key protest with potentially dramatic consequence across Europe – needed to be followed up by a more dramatic, violent outburst a few days later to ensure we do not sweep that awkward result under the carpet. Of course, the rioters are not really protesting about the carve up of votes in an enlarged Europe, or the continued opaqueness of much EU activity. But if the European Heads of government feel remotely chastened by their first-hand experience of &#