A New Start for the European Union?
Herman Matthijs

Abstract
In recent months a great deal of ink has been spilt on the numerous problems being experienced by the European Union (EU) and the Euro zone. It has been suggested on more than one occasion that the project should be continued with a limited number of core countries committed to the creation of a more integrated whole, particularly on the political front. At present it is not yet clear which countries might be involved. Even so the Dutch Minister of Finance, Jeroen Dijsselbloem (Dijsselbloem ), a social democrat and the Chairman of the Euro group, has argued for a new five-country Schengen Zone. This new EU should consist of the following present members: Austria, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden. The external borders of the five countries would be properly secured and Dijsselbloem selected these countries primarily because they are the ones currently doing the most to receive the huge numbers of asylum seekers. These five countries are the economic core of the EU. It is the first time that a top European politician has named the countries that could constitute a new core Europe. On 9 February 2016 the Foreign Ministers of the six founder members of the EEC met in Rome, to discuss the poor functioning of the EU. The important political lesson of these Roman encounters is the fact that now also France, Italy and Luxembourg are around the table concerning the negotiations of Europe’s future.

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