Today is Europe Day — and the eve of the 50th anniversary of Ireland's vote to join the EEC — and it's a good time to take stock of our engagement with our neighbours

The vision of Robert Schuman who founded the European Coal and Steel Community - precursor of the EU - was well justified for political, economic and social reasons. However the European project has been tested to its limits by the recession and the introduction of the Euro, according to Jospeh Stiglitz. JP O’Malley considers two accounts of the EU today