This is CBS, I am the world. I'm John Bachelor. Europe, the European Union, 27 sovereign powers

working together at least since the late 20th century. Stanley Pinyal helps me to understand

the European Union's ambitions now here in the 21st century. And asking the question, is

is Europe a state can it function as a state with a capital in Brussels, sometimes in

Strasbourg? Stanley is also Charlemagne. This is a column continued in the Economist magazine

for many decades. And it is my window on the European Union. Stanley, a very good day to

you and a good year, the ambition to be a state. The European Union expresses itself in many

voices. Does it have a voice that is the state voice? Good day to you. Good day. The EU has many

of the trappings of a state. It has a flag, it has a capital in Brussels, it has a parliament,

it has political institutions. But what it doesn't have is that sort of country status that a place

like America has the United States or India or even other big federated states. And the reasons

for that, obviously, a historical Europe is in a process of integration but started very much with

27 now 27 different members who agree to do some things together. But there are still very many

things that they like to keep for themselves. So when it comes to regulating global business,

for example, they might all choose to do it together. When it comes to having a currency,

the euro, many of them do it together, not not all 27. But there are other things like foreign

affairs or social spending or education in which the each member state is still jealously guarding

that core competence. And the history of Europe, really since the Second World War, has been

the construction of this super state as some detractors call it and the speed and the willingness

that people have to move towards a single federal government federal state.

What I learned from the book Stanley is Master of Treaty, late 20th century 1991, Euro 1999,

late 20th century. And here we are now two decades, three into three decades later. And Europe

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