Europe Sheds Its Brexit Baggage and Aims for a Bold Relaunch

[Ghost Dog]

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-08/europe-sheds-its-brexit-baggage-and-aims-for-a-bold-new-relaunch

... Globally, with Trump challenging the trans-Atlantic order and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un testing nuclear bombs, the EU is presenting itself as a bastion of stability.

To be sure, the EU has its fair share of lingering risks. The southern flank -- Italy and Spain included -- features weak governments and banks (*), Macron must deliver on a domestic economic overhaul that Germany is demanding and Poland has provoked unprecedented concerns about democratic backsliding in the bloc and a rift with western neighbors.

But these realities aren’t spoiling a more optimistic mood in EU circles.

“Some are even talking about a renaissance of Europe,” said Janis Emmanouilidis, director of studies at the European Policy Centre in Brussels. “We need to be careful not to cheer too early and too loud.”...

(*) - Spanish bank Banco Santander is rated as the strongest bank in Europe, and probably in the world.