The European Union (EU) was launched as a response to the economic dominance of the United States and - to a lesser degree - the Soviet Union. The nations of Western Europe were too small to compete against large scale and diversi?ed economies on their own. Six countries, eventually expanding to 27 (and counting), took a series of steps toward progressively deeper integration: the removal of int- nal tariffs, the construction of a common external tariff, the elimination of many (but not all) non-tariff barriers leading to a single market, and the adoption of a c- mon currency by 15 of the member states. The EU today equals and even exceeds the U. S. on many key indicators of performance. In the process, two similar but nonetheless divergent models of social and economic life stand in contrast with each other. The U. S. is more committed to capitalism and does little to dilute its harsh edges while the nations of Europe support wider social safety nets and more active regulation of commercial activity to mute the crueller aspects of the free-market. Until recently, the economic dynamism of the U. S. called into question whether the so-called European social model was sustainable in an era of globalization. The EU was slipping in competitiveness and was being challenged by new global pow- houses like China and India. Although the U. S. economy has slowed, there is little indication that European countries are capable of leveraging the situation to their advantage.

The European Union (EU) was launched as a response to the economic dominance of the United States and - to a lesser degree - the Soviet Union. The nations of Western Europe were too small to compete against large scale and diversi?ed economies on their own. Six countries, eventually expanding to 27 (and counting), took a series of steps toward progressively deeper integration: the removal of int- nal tariffs, the construction of a common external tariff, the elimination of many (but not all) non-tariff barriers leading to a single market, and the adoption of a c- mon currency by 15 of the member states. The EU today equals and even exceeds the U. S. on many key indicators of performance. In the process, two similar but nonetheless divergent models of social and economic life stand in contrast with each other. The U. S. is more committed to capitalism and does little to dilute its harsh edges while the nations of Europe support wider social safety nets and more active regulation of commercial activity to mute the crueller aspects of the free-market. Until recently, the economic dynamism of the U. S. called into question whether the so-called European social model was sustainable in an era of globalization. The EU was slipping in competitiveness and was being challenged by new global pow- houses like China and India. Although the U. S. economy has slowed, there is little indication that European countries are capable of leveraging the situation to their advantage.

What happens to the dying in the final days and weeks of their lives? What emotions come to the surface and what do they want to talk about? Attilio Stajano, a volunteer worker at the palliative care ward of a Brussels hospital, presents a series of deeply-moving personal encounters with seriously-ill patients. The dying, he discovers, have much to teach the living. Whilst their stories are all different, they share one thing in common: in the end, when all is said and done, only love remains...How should we respond to the challenge of death? As a society and as individuals, we can choose to be patient and sensitive, giving dignity to those reaching the end of their lives - even when those lives appear to have no further value. The period leading to death can be full of profound experiences, telling us much about the meaning of life and the abiding nature of love. If we see the terminally-ill as an inconvenience, however, we forego the possibility of finding unexpected resources in ourselves: a tenderness, a touch, a readiness to assist that we did not know we were capable of. Underlying this book is the momentous and very current debate over euthanasia. In a comprehensive appendix, the author reports on the provision of palliative care services and the laws governing euthanasia in European and English-speaking countries around the world, and the implications these have for the way we value and care for the dying.