Charles De Gaulle Once Asked How One Could Govern a Country That Had So Many Cheeses. the Same Might Be Said of Bread and Beer in Germany. Where Is the Brussels Bulldozer?

MacShane, Denis, New Statesman (1996)

As soon as parliament finished its work, I took my children off through the Channel Tunnel, across the Alps to Italy and back, to stay with friends in different parts of France. As always, the mainland Europe I encounter seems to be on the dark side of the moon compared with the European Union we read about in most of our press. Millions of Brits now holiday or work in another European country. And Britain is home to millions of EU citizens--250,000 French, 60,000 Danes and who knows how many Irish passport-holders?--all valued taxpayers in Europe's most successful economy.

Like most baby-boom boys from suburban, neither-rich-nor-poor families, I didn't really do Europe until university. But how do I explain to my children what Europe was like 30 or 40 years ago? Half of it under communist rule. Spain, Portugal and Greece under generals. The Ireland of my schoolday holidays much poorer than Britain and …

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Publication information: Article title: Charles De Gaulle Once Asked How One Could Govern a Country That Had So Many Cheeses. the Same Might Be Said of Bread and Beer in Germany. Where Is the Brussels Bulldozer?. Contributors: MacShane, Denis - Author. Magazine title: New Statesman (1996). Volume: 132. Issue: 4652 Publication date: August 25, 2003. Page number: 9+. © Not available. COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group.

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