In January 2001, I arrived in Brussels with several firm and unfavourable convictions about the EU. I believed that most ordinary Europeans felt far more loyalty to their nation than to Europe. I thought that steadily enlarging the powers of Brussels was undemocratic and dangerous. I reckoned that in a crisis, nationalist instincts would come to the fore. I suspected that the EU's new currency – the euro – was liable to run into trouble. And I believed that the Brussels-based elite was a “new class” that had confused its own interests with those of the continent of Europe.
2001年1月我抵达布鲁塞尔时，曾对欧盟怀有几分根深蒂固的偏见。我相信，欧洲普通大众对自己的国家要比对欧洲忠诚得多，而稳步扩张布鲁塞尔的权力既不民主，又是危险的。我猜测，民族主义本能在危机时刻肯定会抬头，而欧盟的新货币欧元多半会遇上麻烦。我认为，以布鲁塞尔为总部的精英们，是一个把自身利益与欧洲大陆利益混为一谈的“新阶层”。
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