An American analyst tells the European parliament the EU could become the beacon of the 21st century, reports Honor Mahony in Brussels
The American dream is dead; long live the European dream? With endless headlines about how Europe is failing to meet its economic goals, how it cannot speak with one voice, how it is over-regulated, ageing and that its social model may as well be consigned to the bin, it is quite cheering when a positive voice makes itself heard.
And all the more so when it comes from an American.
According to US author and analyst Mr Jeremy Rifkin, the American dream is becoming outdated and it is Europe's dream that should be the vision for the 21st Century. The American conviction that education and hard work is all you need to make it to the top has become tainted with disillusion.
To achieve their dream, Americans work the longest hours of any industrialised nation and have an average of two weeks paid holiday a year. And they live in a country where the gap between rich and poor - among industrialised nations - is greater only in Russia and Mexico.
"For 150 years the dream was robust," Mr Rifkin told an audience in the European Parliament earlier last week but now only around half of Americans actually believe in it.
If the American dream is based on the individual - self-reliance and personal wealth - then what is the European dream? Not that we are fully conscious of it yet, but it is the mirror opposite, says Mr Rifkin, author of the book, The European Dream - a must-read in Brussels at the moment.
The European dream is to do with good quality of life and relationships, creating a sustainable world, consensus-building and waging peace.
With the EU facing an ideological discussion about which direction it should take, particularly as it is headed by a market-oriented growth-focused European Commission, Mr Rifkin's words introduce an interesting new element to the debate.
Why does Europe constantly compare itself to America? "Europeans have a deep inferiority complex," he said and are "always wondering about America". But it appears to be a one-way street. "We never think about you, never, you're not on our radar screen."
Yet the US is the benchmark - particularly for the EU's economic goals.
But despite deep structural reforms undertaken by America to boost its economy - it is one of two industrialised countries that does not have universal health care for everyone; it has low income taxes and a very flexible labour market - it is not the economic winner on all fronts.
It is Europe that is the world's largest exporter and largest internal trading market; the euro is stronger than the dollar and 61 of the 140 biggest companies on the Global Fortune 500 rankings are European - 50 are US companies.
Europe is nowhere near perfect, of course. High unemployment in several countries, its past incapacity to deal with conflicts on its Balkan doorstep, its poor third-level education and the sometimes sheer hypocrisy of its high-mindedness are just some of its weaknesses, but its dream is healthy, argues Mr Rifkin who says that "dreams are what you want to be, not what you are".
Mr Rifkin's words feed into a growing sense of soul-searching as to what it means to be European as Germany pushes through tough labour reforms; French citizens fight to hang on to their 35-hour week and Nordic countries wonder if their high welfare state standards can be maintained in the face of immigration.
On top of this, proposed new laws from the European Commission to liberalise the market in services have led to social-dumping fears while the Union as a whole is desperately unsure how to tackle illegal immigration - a huge issue that urgently needs to be dealt with.
But what Mr Rifkin is suggesting is that there is an alternative to the American model if Europe wants to grow. Improving such things as transport and communications networks as well as making it easier for Europeans to move within Europe - so they do not have to worry about their pensions; benefits and differing qualifications - would be a start.
If Europe could manage this, then it could become the dominant economic power in the world but keep its traditional "European-ness".
However, the problem with Mr Rifkin's solution is that there is a lack of political drive at the member-state level to push through these changes while at the EU level there is a lack of long-term vision for Europe - both in Brussels and in the Union's driving member-states, France and Germany.
For his part, Mr Rifkin feels this generation may not be up to the task of turning Europe into the beacon of the 21st century that America was of the 19th and 20th century.
"It's a heavy responsibility. We did it for 200 years," he said.
But for his appreciative, mainly left-leaning audience, that was not the point.
The point was that he was delivering an overwhelming positive message in uncertain times.