[...] out of the blue, after three years of back-biting and seemingly daily financial crisis, the European Union won the Nobel Peace Prize for fostering peace on a continent long ravaged by war.
Even as it announced the award Friday, the Norwegian prize jury warned that the financial crisis challenging the 27-nation bloc's unity could lead to a return to "extremism and nationalism."
The announcement was met with negative reactions in debt-ridden countries like Spain and Greece, where many blame Germany and other northern EU neighbors for the painful austerity measures like higher taxes and job cuts they have endured in a so-far failed effort to salvage their floundering economies.
The prize will do nothing to balance out-of-kilter national budgets or spur economic growth in Greece or bring down the borrowing costs of some of the weaker countries that use the euro, such as Spain.
Jacques Delors, often dubbed Mr. Europe for his efforts as European Commission president to push toward greater unity in the 1980s and '90s, said the prize was "a great satisfaction for the founding fathers of Europe, and all the activists for the European cause over the years who tried to make progress on what was for them, at the outset, a dream."
The economic crisis has stirred tensions between north and south, caused unemployment to soar and sent hundreds of thousands of people into the streets to protest tax hikes and job cuts.
European leaders enjoyed a period of relative calm over the summer, when it seemed they had built the more centralized institutions that many economists believe are necessary to the stability of the common currency.
[...] there are what the economist De Grauwe called "rear guard battles" in which some EU states, notably Germany, appear to be trying to undo or dilute some of those accomplishments, including a proposed banking union and the ability of the European Central Bank to reduce countries' borrowing costs by buying sovereign bonds.
George Tzogopoulos, a political analyst from the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy, said the prize might help people understand the role the EU has played in preserving peace.
Europe's stumbling economy is making it harder for economies around the world to recover and international policymakers are urging more decisive action from the region's governments to deal with the crippling debt crisis to restore confidence to the global economy.
The region is the United States' largest export customer and any fall-off in demand will hurt U.S. businesses — as well as Obama's election prospects.
Even as it announced the award Friday, the Norwegian prize jury warned that the financial crisis challenging the 27-nation bloc's unity could lead to a return to "extremism and nationalism."
The announcement was met with negative reactions in debt-ridden countries like Spain and Greece, where many blame Germany and other northern EU neighbors for the painful austerity measures like higher taxes and job cuts they have endured in a so-far failed effort to salvage their floundering economies.
The prize will do nothing to balance out-of-kilter national budgets or spur economic growth in Greece or bring down the borrowing costs of some of the weaker countries that use the euro, such as Spain.
Jacques Delors, often dubbed Mr. Europe for his efforts as European Commission president to push toward greater unity in the 1980s and '90s, said the prize was "a great satisfaction for the founding fathers of Europe, and all the activists for the European cause over the years who tried to make progress on what was for them, at the outset, a dream."
The economic crisis has stirred tensions between north and south, caused unemployment to soar and sent hundreds of thousands of people into the streets to protest tax hikes and job cuts.
European leaders enjoyed a period of relative calm over the summer, when it seemed they had built the more centralized institutions that many economists believe are necessary to the stability of the common currency.
[...] there are what the economist De Grauwe called "rear guard battles" in which some EU states, notably Germany, appear to be trying to undo or dilute some of those accomplishments, including a proposed banking union and the ability of the European Central Bank to reduce countries' borrowing costs by buying sovereign bonds.
George Tzogopoulos, a political analyst from the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy, said the prize might help people understand the role the EU has played in preserving peace.
Europe's stumbling economy is making it harder for economies around the world to recover and international policymakers are urging more decisive action from the region's governments to deal with the crippling debt crisis to restore confidence to the global economy.
The region is the United States' largest export customer and any fall-off in demand will hurt U.S. businesses — as well as Obama's election prospects.
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