More Delors, The Economist implores

“Can anything perk up Europe?” wonders the front page of The Economist. Over the past 18 months of economic and political crises, the EU “seems a diminished force in the world,” the London business weekly opines. Harking back to the European Commission presidency of “brilliant and irascible French politician” Jacques Delors, The Economist argues that the Union’s leaders must seize the chance of completing his initiatives, “freeing its economy and setting up the single market. By boosting economic growth the EU could ease its political difficulties and help its citizens. At the moment EU leaders are putting their effort into cutting spending: if only they were to add a dose of 1992-style reform.”