Will the financial crisis expose the true nature of the EU?

Do you remember May 1st 2004? I do. I was invited to a party in Spain. 60 students from 34 nations were gathered at The UNESCO Chair of Philosophy for Peace at Universitat Jaume I of Castellón (UJI) in order to study Peace and Development. On the eve of May 1st our fellow students from Poland were eager to celebrate. Their country had just become a member of the EU.

I decided to bring flowers, and write a condolence letter...

There are many pros and cons regarding the EU, but what did Poland expect to gain from exposing themselves to this free market? Did they think that solidarity would override economic considerations in times of despair?

Today European Union leaders are preparing for an emergency summit in Brussels seeking to bridge differences on how to deal with the global economic crisis. The summit was called after French President Nicolas Sarkozy promised to bail out France's car industry if it did not shift jobs out of France. The French move raised fears that national protectionism could scupper hopes of recovery within the EU.

- Protectionism may or may not be a good thing, but it is undoubtedly true that it flies in the face of the whole raison d'etre of the EU, as a single market, a community with a common purpose, an organisation committed to free trade, writes BBC's Europe editor Mark Mardell in his blog.

European leaders are now facing a critical path ahead. To me, their actions will decide whether my flowers and condolence letter were just, and ultimately expose the true nature of the EU.