It is probably not accidental that the two EU countries facing the most imminent challenge from separatists within their borders – the UK from the Scots, and Spain from the Catalans and Basques – are old, proud, post-imperial nations whose unionist integration was essentially the enterprise of monarchy. The eventual answer to this problem does not have to be either separatism or unionism (monarchy is a secondary issue). It could as well be a creative form of federalism, even though federalism as a word, let alone a formula, sends semantic shivers up the political spine of both countries.
欧盟(EU)两国面临的分离主义挑战迫在眉睫——英国的威胁来自苏格兰人，西班牙的威胁来自加泰罗尼亚人和巴斯克人。两国都是古老、自傲的后帝国主义国家，其联合主义下的统一本质上是君主制所追求的事业，这或许并非巧合。问题的最终答案不一定非得是分离和统一之间二选一（君主制是次要问题）。答案可以是创新的联邦制，虽然光是联邦制这个词语（更不用说这个体制了）就足以让两国的政治阶层脊梁打颤了。