EUSSR


Former European Commission insider Derk Jan-Eppink sees a number of parallels between Europe and the former USSR:

• The Soviet Union wanted to harmonize as much as possible within a single political framework. This is also the mission of the European Union.

• The Soviet Union was administered by a political elite. So is the European Union.

• The Soviet Union saw itself as a utopian state. The European federalists have much the same views.

• The Soviet Union had a single bureaucratic center, like the one in the European Union.

• The Soviet Union was dominated by a powerful secretary general. So are the European institutions.

• The Soviet Union had party ideologists. The European Union has legal counselors.

• The Soviet Union wanted to create a viable society through a series of official procedures. So does the European Union.

• The Soviet Union had apparatchiks, the European Union has mandarins.

• The Soviet Union had a five year plan. The European Union has a work program.

• The Soviet Union saw socialist integration as an irreversible process. The European Union sees integration as a means for an "ever closer Union".

• The Soviet Union claimed to act on behalf of a mythical worker. The European Union has its mythical citizen.

• The Soviet Union wanted to surpass the United States. The European Union has been trying to do the same thing for many years.

There's more at Brussels Journal.