The Disunited States Of Europe

French President Francois Hollande believes the Greek financial crisis indicates that it's time for a central European government.

“Circumstances are leading us to accelerate,” Hollande said in anopinion piece published by the Journal du Dimanche on Sunday. “What threatens us is not too much Europe, but a lack of it.”

While the euro zone has a common currency, fiscal and economic policies remain mostly in the hands of each member state. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi made a plea this week for deeper cooperation between the euro members after political squabbles over Greece almost led to a rupture in the single currency.

Countries in favor of more integration should move ahead, forming an “avant-garde,” Hollande said.

“Europe has let its institutions weaken and the 28 European Union member countries are struggling to agree to move ahead,” Hollande said on Sunday in a text which was also a homage to his mentor Jacques Delors, a former European Commission President who proposed similar ideas.

Draghi called for the creation of a shared treasury within 10 years in a joint proposal with politicians including European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem last month.

The call for a central, ruling EU government that would have binding control over all EU member states isn't new by any means, but in the wake of the massive fracturing of Europe between pro union forces like Hollande in France and "fix your own damn problem" Chancellor Merkel and Zee Germans, I don't see how this has any realistic chance of working.

If anything, the disintegration of the eurozone and the EU seems far, far more likely at this point.