Any politician is a virtuoso when it comes to hiding the true meaning of his or her messages and real intentions. This is perfectly logical because they are people who by definition aren't entitled to speak the whole truth. Their politically correct message has not to offend anyone, not to demoralize anyone and at the same time to send a message that corresponds to the politicians' views. This isn't an easy task. Something similar happened during the recent meeting of the executive leaders of Germany, France and Britain. They wanted to send at least 3 messages to the general public. All of them would have been considered as politically incorrect in the European Union. So they found other words, creating even bigger confusion than if they have tried to be frank as the other ordinary people.

The first hidden truth relates to the format of the meeting, an unprecedented "Big 3", which participants were accused of establishing new "directorate" to rule over the EU political agenda. The accusations and the attempts by the "Gang of three" to find the right excuses only exacerbated the situation. Even if the meeting has produced new and interesting ideas (if fact it did), it will be regarded from now on with suspicion by the remaining EU company. All the accusations and responds bypassed the main point, why it became so necessary to organize a trilateral meeting between Gerhard Schroeder, Jacques Chirac and Tony Blair? The truth is that the actual format of 15 countries and even less the future format of 25 can't be productive in steering the EU vessel in a new, more dynamic direction. To say such a heresy in public to the EU citizens and to the many of small countries' governments isn't allowed. But if after such criticism this format is repeated this will mean a change in the way the main political decisions within the EU are made and promoted.

Second unspoken truth on the trilateral meeting related to the state of the European economy. With almost a 100 million additional population over the United States, EU still can't become the largest and the most dynamic economic zone in the globe. The American economy, even if it isn't in its best shape, performs better than the countries on the other side of the Atlantic. For the Europeans the most alarming fact comes not from the number of unemployed persons, but from the technological gap. The unprecedented strong Euro has increased the foreign investments to the Euro zone but even this extraordinary chance seems not benefiting the high-tech industry. Loudly speaking about this gap in Europe is also politically incorrect, not because it will offend the Americans but because it will have to stress the fact that almost 60 years after the WWII the Europeans can't return where they have been for so long, on the top of the world.

The third unspoken truth on the meeting relates to the social programs that have to be gradually reduced. The only politically correct answer why this should be done is that such change is required by the economic orthodoxy. If the society wants to have an affordable social system, it should reform it, cutting some elements that cost money without bringing economic benefits. But even the proponents of such measures can't say why these reforms are urgent right now if the negative effects of the social system won't be felt for the next 20 years all the rest being equal. The problem is, and this is the truth that nobody wants to speak about loudly, that this year the EU will begin its "big bang" enlargement and that may become a real problem for the generous social programs in the West. Not right now, but in 2-3 years when the economic embargo on the new economic immigrants from the East begin to crumble. Will someone in the West allow millions of Poles, Czechs and Lithuanians, people working for $300-400 or less in their countries, to come to West and enjoy the generous social programs paid by the local people? Of course they won't. But nobody dares to speak this loudly; it's better to refer to the older population problem in order to explain the urgency of the reforms.

If these are the real messages of the "Big 3" meeting, they will appeal to the basic instincts of those with a very limited and xenophobic West European identity, created in both opposition to the United States' political, economic, technological and cultural dominance and to the East European backwardness. To be on the top and not to share anything with anyone, this is the motto of this power-defined European identity. It clashes with the basic European values of solidarity and openness, established after the WWII. We hope that they will survive the EU ongoing deep political and economic transformations.

--------------------

See also the directory of companies providing real estate services in, and general real estate information of Europe.