Oh dear, oh dear! Those evil things, “domestic politics and national interests” once again trumped “lofty notions of sacrifice and solidarity for the benefit of all.” How could that be? Didn't the Europeans scrap human nature when they formed the European Union? Didn’t they transcend narrow self-interest, selfishness, and atavistic sentiments like patriotism, envy, ambition, and greed?
The European Unionists don’t mention the writings of Karl Marx much, but isn’t their vision of a super-enlightened populace all pulling together for the common good (defined, nota bene, by those benevolent, tax-exempt bureaucrats in Brussels) very close to Marx’s Romantic vision: "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs," comrade!

The Times, natch, is somber about the disintegration of the latest experiment in social engineering.

"The battle over money and the shelving of the bloc’s historic constitution, after the crushing no votes in France and the Netherlands, stripped away all pretense of an organization with a common vision and reflected the fears of many leaders in the face of rising popular opposition to the project called Europe. . . .
Most embarrassing for the European Union was a last-minute attempt by its 10 newest members to salvage the budget agreement late on Friday night. They offered to give up some of their own aid from the union so that the older and richer members could keep theirs.

For the new members, that offer was an opportunity to prove their worth. Criticizing the “egoism” of countries driven by national interests, Prime Minister Marek Belka of Poland said, “Nobody will be able to say that for Poland, the European Union is just a pile of money.”