Dirk Schümer
Dirk Schümer (b. 1962), now based in Vienna, has been writing for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung’s Feuilleton (arts & ideas supplement) since 1991. He has written several books about European issues.
Updated: 20 January 2011
European political parties are in crisis. And ideological bias aside, they now deal more in special interest groups. These include senior citizens, whose pensions they cheerfully promise to save, when for years they have been eaten away. 
The European Union was the best thing that could have happened to the continent. But over the years it has grown into a demon, uncontrollable and impossible to throw out of office. To avoid collapse, there is only one road open: back to the nation. And back to democracy. 
A country that doesn’t exist any more doesn’t need a government any more either. Is the Belgian political crisis a portent of the shape of things to come in Europe? asks the FAZ.