One of the more bizarre schemes of Europe's indefatigable reformers is to establish an elite university, called the European Institute of Technology, by 2009. The name suggests that the European Union is trying to create a clone of the famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US.

The EIT epitomises the confused thinking in the debate about Europe's economic future. It is based on the misconception that elite universities can be established by diktat. In fact, they evolve over time and only in the right environment.