“Why don’t you just have a single phone number we can use when we want to call Europe?” Recently, in a small gathering of Americans and Europeans on the sidelines of a conference on trans-Atlantic relations, one of the American participants again brought up this question. The man—a conservative policymaker from Washington who shall remain anonymous—explained that it was awkward for Americans when they want something from Europe but don’t know what number to call on the other side of the Atlantic. Should they call the European Commission? The European Council? The European Parliament? Or do they start by phoning Berlin, then Paris, and so on? “Everything in Europe is complicated and confusing,” he complained to me. “You should get your act together!”

What often stands out in such situations is that the Europeans’ response is even more silly than the question itself: They immediately start apologizing. They sheepishly mumble that Europe is “divided,” and that things on the old continent are not as clearly organized and streamlined as in the United States.

“Why don’t you just have a single phone number we can use when we want to call Europe?” Recently, in a small gathering of Americans and Europeans on the sidelines of a conference on trans-Atlantic relations, one of the American participants again brought up this question. The man—a conservative policymaker from Washington who shall remain anonymous—explained that it was awkward for Americans when they want something from Europe but don’t know what number to call on the other side of the Atlantic. Should they call the European Commission? The European Council? The European Parliament? Or do they start by phoning Berlin, then Paris, and so on? “Everything in Europe is complicated and........

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