Part 2 | Europe's messy march to a more perfect union

It is, I suppose, ironic that the important recent rejection of the Lisbon Treaty came from the Irish, who perhaps have benefited more from the open trade and investment of the European Union than any other EU country. But democracies (and I love and support them!) have long been better at taking than giving.

In essence, what the vote means is that the EU leadership must take seriously what the Dutch, French and now the Irish have said in their latest votes to reject first the EU Constitution and now the Lisbon Treaty. When you give people the freedom to choose, the results must be respected. And, in this case, the resulting situation is messy, but messy does not necessarily have to be bad (consider marriage, procreation and childbirth). The leadership should stay focused on the overarching goals of the European Union and continue the move forward toward a more perfect union.

It is not easy to move 27 countries in the same direction, and the treaty would have helped to do that. But let us never forget that Germany and France fought three wars between 1870 and 1945 and Europe since World War II already shows clearly that deep-seated ethnic tension need not be permanent.

It is difficult to know why some in Europe are so disturbed today. Back in 2005, when the French rejected the EU Constitution, among the main reasons cited were that enlargement was moving too fast, and further enlargement, especially to embrace the Muslim nation of Turkey, was causing substantial unease.

There is evidence that the European balance between freedom and responsibility needs some correction and the people sense it. British youth, for example, are widely acknowledged as the "freest" in the Western world, but they are also characterized as dysfunctional. They are the freest from authority, but they may also be Europe's most drunken, violent and out-of-control youth. Elsewhere on the continent, family values are at least influenced by the remembrance of the Judeo-Christian tradition.

Some see as part of the antidote a return to a culture of traditional, stricter discipline, underpinned by the Judeo-Christian moral ethic, and there is evidence that there has been a return to the virtues that preceded the postmodern world. In Italy, nearly half of adult Catholics attend mass at least weekly, up from 35 percent who did so in 1980. In Germany, church attendance is no longer declining and Chancellor Angela Merkel was one of the supporters for a specific reference to Europe's Christian heritage in the EU Constitution.

The European Union's newest members come mostly from the former Soviet bloc. The 12-country expansion since 2004 has created a trading bloc of 500 million people and given the continent substantial global clout. Still, differences abound between the old (like France and Germany) and the new (like the Czech Republic, Estonia and Romania). Unemployment numbers as well as GDP numbers are hugely different. Bustling Ireland has little in common with Italy, where output may even shrink.

Highly diverse economic models exist for Europe. In the British Anglo-Saxon model, it is relatively easy to start a business and hiring and firing is easier than in countries such as France and Germany. Yet many are concerned that this model, with its relatively low taxes and low welfare payments, has done little to eliminate poverty and increase equality.

The Continental model relies on state-based benefits and pensions, with poverty fought by protecting workers from being fired. The Nordic model is characterized by higher taxes, and higher spending on education, research, health care and welfare, with a strong social safety net lowering the risk of poverty.

Back in 1991, the Maastricht Treaty helped Europe forge common foreign and security policies, generally by consensus. By replacing unanimity with majority voting at EU meetings, the then 11-nation EU got more say in education, public health, culture, consumer protection, industry, research and development, and environment. In 1999 EU leaders decided to make the EU a military power for the first time in its 42-year-old history, with command headquarters, staffs and forces of its own for peacekeeping and peacemaking missions in future crises.

In 2009, the EU was to ratify the Lisbon Treaty that was rejected by Ireland. Among the key provisions: more decisions would be made by the majority rather than unanimity; the threat of national vetoes would be removed; the European Parliament and national assemblies would get more say over decision-making; membership of the European Commission would be trimmed to 17 from 27; an EU president would replace the system of rotating national leaders; and the role of EU foreign-policy chief would be strengthened to give Europe a bigger voice in the world.

The recent Irish rejection interrupted again the building of a more unified Europe, but European leaders must not get discouraged. As shown in Wednesday's Part 1, a common cultural heritage already unites Europeans across all frontiers, regardless of language barriers and cultural differences. A truly European spirit has emerged that lives side by side with national, regional and local identities. At the same time the EU is working toward common foreign and security policies, governments across Europe are giving more and more decision-making power to local authorities as they scale back intervention in order to give them more power to distribute public-works spending.

In the new Europe, diversity has been enhanced. By building a common legal, political and economic order around the cornerstone Treaties of Rome, Europeans can live out their differences as a source of mutual enrichment. Still, much work is yet to be done.

Retirement systems that were adopted in the 1960s to cover retirees for 10 years now must cover senior-citizen pensions for 20, and life expectancy is seen as increasing by another five years in the next half-century.

Gaining control of debt is also a challenge. Countries such as Britain and France have already joined the charge-it mentality, following the United States down the road of consumption through debt. Unwise accumulation of debt inhibits social mobility and ruins lives. Undue luxury and self-indulgence must be inhibited and values and virtues such as hard work, temperance and frugality reacquired.

A large and powerful European Union is more capable of making the required tough and necessary decisions. The EU, if prudent, compassionate and wise, will be able to legislate some of these changes that must be made for governments to stay vibrant and solvent. Some of the legislation will be unpopular, but they will be important in Europe's march to a more perfect union.