Charles Grant of the CER writes, in today’s Financial Times, that
“Federalism”, in the sense of centralisation for centralisation’s sake, is a declining force that is relevant in no more than a handful of member states.
He should go further. Federalism, in that sense, is not relevant in any member state, because federalism in that sense does not exist. Federalism argues for centralisation when it is necessary for effective policies, and only then.
It is a bit absurd that Charles Grant should repeat the old nonsense about federalism in the middle of an article explaining how important it is that Europe is properly understood in Britain.