Obama: Do Not Follow in EU Missteps

Throughout the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign, there was much talk about how Europe and the world thought of the United States.

Obama seemed driven to gain European approval, including his infamous speech in Berlin.

With Obama's election, it would seem that the Continent likes us again.

There has been unprecedented outreach from Europe to Obama, from mainline citizens to the upper reaches of the European Union. Margot Wallström, the vice-president of the European Commission within the EU, invited Obama to work closely with the organization:

I invite the new US president to join the EU in shaping the future we all want...

There was even some tongue-in-cheek chatter about Obama being the president of the EU, should they move to a single president.

For his part, Obama fueled the U.S./European connection by pledging to his Berlin audience to "act with the same seriousness of purpose as has your nation..."

However, two articles posted on the BBC website give me grave concerns about Obama's alignment with Europe.

The BBC reports that the United Kingdom could face an unacceptable risk of major blackouts within ten years due to an EU directive that will force the closure before 2015 of nine of our major coal and oil-powered plants. Obama has already made leanings in this direction, previously announcing that he will bankrupt the coal industry in the U.S. and reportedly plans to halt some domestic oil drilling as one of his first actions in office.

Will Obama's actions yield the same dire forecast as the EU directives? It cannot be predicted, but I would rather not find out the hard way.

Another interesting BBC article describes the drastic results of a government body over-regulating and micro-managing an industry. The EU has actually drawn up plans to regulate oddly-sized or misshapen fruit and vegetables being sold in Europe. Shops will not be able to sell misshapen produce such as apples, lettuces, sweet peppers, grapes and tomatoes, unless properly labelled. This ridiculous edict will certainly do little but drive up costs and create a scarcity of these fruits and veggies.

This is an exterme example, to be sure; however, in the wake of the financial "crises" facing the country, Obama will likely be under great pressure to increase regulations on myriad industries. This odd ruling about funny-looking fruit should serve warning to Obama and U.S. citizens that all government regulation is not beneficial.

Let us hope that Obama doesn't try too hard to please Europe by acting with the same seriousness as the EU in shaping the future of the US.