Dahrendorf: Back to the roots

In a lengthy contribution [German] to the Neue Züricher Zeitung, old-school European and unconventional liberal, Ralf Dahrendorf asks for a restart of Europe. The Union should care more about real issues and should not be stuck in the typical "Brussels culture" about which Dahrendorf writes:

"One could say a lot of things about the 'Brussel's culture'. It has something integrating but also excluding. This includes a special way to talk about Europe that is far away from common speech. Not only the Commission's and Council's employees but also journalists as well as a number of Members of Parliament are quickly prepossessed by a mixture of idealism and esoteric special interests." [own translation]