Review in FT of Habermas's book on Europe

In "Financial Times" (April 7, 2012), Tony Barber reviews Jürgen Habermas's latest book "The Crisis of the European Union" (Polity Press, 2012):

Review: Continental drift - Europe’s integration has failed to engage its public

Excerpt:
"Habermas denounces German politicians for failing to seize the debt crisis to inspire voters with a vision of European unity. He dismisses Angela Merkel as “a hard-nosed lobbyist” for German national interests with one eye fixed on poll ratings. “Popular opinion established by opinion polls is not the same thing as the outcome of a public deliberative process leading to the formation of a democratic will,” he comments acidly.
Some of these criticisms seem harsh. After all, Merkel and her government have kept the euro alive and defended the cause of European unity. Still, in pinpointing the lack of democratic participation, Habermas builds a case that Europe’s leaders will sooner or later have to answer."

Habermas's book was published last year in German: "Zur Verfassung Europas" (Suhrkamp Verlag, 2011).

See my post on the book here - and links to reviews here.