While the E.U. was a very good idea in principle; to ignore 1,000 years of history is a giant task indeed. Memories will not allow people to say that was then and this is now. Yes the E.U. is an attempt to banish the wars and bloodshed to the bitter past; and to ensure a brighter ; more prosperous; and peaceful future in theory. However to expect British, French, German , Spanish, and Italian citizens; just to name a few ; will agree on anything let alone everything was always a pipe dream in my opinion. A bridge too far for the British at least. Nationalist pride will win over a general U.N. approach to common problems every time. Look how easily Trump promoted his simpleton America First slogan to many who do not understand it Really means America Alone. I hoped the E.U. would succeed; but I always had my doubts.
The failures cited in the UK, France, and Germany all seem the results of leadership failures to perform democratic due diligence thru openly consulting the electorate. Perhaps the best example is that Teresa May surely would not have the backlash she's experiencing if she had at least let her Conservative colleagues know what to expect from the final Brexit deal before it came to light. Now she's courting a successful recall/no confidence vote by pushing back a Brexit decision until the March 2019 deadline looms.
French Prez Macron has obviously not stayed in touch with the concerns of a vast number of his struggling constituents, if not French history where strugglers pointedly raise the power stakes occasionally by taking to the streets. German Chancellor Merkel's most crucial failure was not to consult her people, if only her base, re the decision to allow up to 1 million refugees into her nation.
Leaders of all nations and all stripes in democracies would do well to learn the lesson that any people's government governs best when it wins the confidence of an electorate that is shown the respect of being formally or informally included in decisions of key matters of state.
2
Memory is as short as the next generation or Europeans today would understand that they need Europe -- meaning the EU -- for the simple reason that it has now been 73 years since they did what they have done throughout their history, killed each other.
If 73 years without war after more than 1,000 years with it is not sufficient to keep the EU together then nothing can or will be.
Four generations removed from WWII it seems there is almost no memory among them of what they did to one another during that war.
Instead they plunge again into the dark abyss of nationalism, insularity, race hatred, anti-semitism and suppression of the liberties some of them won for all them and that we protected the past 73 years even as we withdraw that protection because of the ignorant policy our own out of control far-right government.
Some of them, the Poles, the Hungarians, are incapable of learning a thing. They return to their ancient hatreds at the first opportunity. The Italians? They remain incapable of self-governance and so they turn again to the new man on horseback, having forgotten the one called Mussolini. The British? They voted themselves into becoming a third-rate poor nation and they can't find their way out of that remarkable historic error.
Nation by nation they are reverting to the bad, to the worst impulses within with bare remembrance where that has taken them again and again in the past.
This time, will it be the suicide of Europe in slow motion?
4
The Brexit mess, along with right-wing populism and nationalist xenophobia undermining European integration, show how toxic and destructive is the combination of Steve Bannon, Mercer money, and Cambridge Analytica with its targeting of illicitly derived social media data, all of it orchestrated to some degree by Russian meddling and political subversion. Whether it was Nigel Farage and UKIP in Britain, Marine le Pen and the National Front in France, the populist quasi-fascists of AfD in Germany, Viktor Orban's Fidesz in Hungary, or the Five Star and League xenophobes now in power in Italy, all share common roots, and all have at least a Russian accent. Only in Poland, immunized by its Russophobia, has right-wing populism become a force without Russian involvement, but it is no less destructive for that.
In every respect, Brexit was a dress rehearsal for the election and policies of Donald Trump. And subsequently Trump's xenophobic and authoritarian impulses have further encouraged the manipulative, disintegrative, and destructive forces unleashed throughout the European Union. No longer can the President of the United States be seen as "the leader of the free world." Trump has become the prime source of the destruction of the liberal order upon which global peace and prosperity has depended for seventy years.
7
When I read about wages and pensions in France, I'm shocked the opposition to the EU and the current governments isn't greater. I call on NY Times readers to consider how much you make per hour, per month and compare it to the salaries and pensions which have been described in Europe. If I told you that you had to live on their incomes, you'd be protesting in the streets tonight.
4
Europeans can live well on less money. Even live better. A 7 day vacation doesn't really need to cost 3000 Dollars or more.
7
@David Martin...Perhaps they can live better by eating cake. Cheap cake.
1
Recently traveling in Europe I was struck how inaccurate is the reporting on countries such as Hungary and Poland and EU overall.
Our press is now tribal and solidly in one political camp so that could explain some of the labels and language used. Or maybe it is all about Trump.
Throwing out old communist judges who started as a party appointed prosecutors is not the same as eliminating independent judiciary and picking a fight with Soros over immigration is not antisemitism. And if it is somebody forget to send the memo to all the European Jews leaving presumably more enlightened countries for Budapest. Orban press is no more friendly than Obama coverage was and his opponents don’t get more bad press than Trump gets.
This leads to coverage of Brexit and EU. The strongest of all the underlining currents causing trouble all over the continent are basically identity politics. French like to be French and Brits like to be Brits and do things “ there way”. People who invented and live by identity politics here in US should be the first one to grasp that.
EU leadership and press labeling reactions to unchecked immigration and imposition of uniform administrative culture as immoral and non- negotiable is what is torpedoing the UE project not a rise of some bugaboo fascists.
7
Governing from the top down rarely works, except maybe in very homogeneous countries.
Democrats in the USA with their turn toward socialism don't seem to understand that.
7
I bet Putin is so happy to see the European Union no longer so unified. In fact, all of the lack of unity — culturally, here in the US, and politically in Europe—is just what he needs for a power grab.
3
Maybe the situation is a bit more complicated than a simple divide between "serious" European leaders and "nationalists" who want to break down the E.U... part of the reason why ALL European countries are nowadays suffering (in Germany too there has been a recent far-right surge) and the European project as well is not because of the lack of "brave" economic reforms (i.e generalized austerity) but because neoliberal economic orthodoxy (refusal of inflation, refusal of any form of spendings, insane focus on deficits) has been enshrined in the European constitutional documents. The Lisbon treaty of 2007 actually obliges governments NEVER to have more than 3 % of their yearly GNP as deficits. Maybe the only occurence in recent history where pure ideology was written down so plainly in a state's constitution... European peoples are supportive of the idea of a united continent, but one that would stand and act for the actual concerns of most people (wages, education, health, environment). Some people in Brussels have been fighting for this their whole life and have achieved concrete results too often ignored, true. Yet, nowadays the whole European institutional machine in Brussels is basically ran by "experts" and lobbysts, with zero concern for the aspirations and needs of Europeans. So maybe its time to tell a more complicated story because no governement with the traditional E.U guidelines in hand will EVER be popular... and we know the other "alternative" so far...
7
@A.David The EU has become something all large centralized governments end up as. It’s not responsive to its citizens. The people become less important than the institutions. Additionally, the largest and most powerful nations tend to be better represented while others are left without a voice. The way to fix this problem is to give back some power to the member nations, allowing for an increased sense of self determination.
6
Countries across Western Europe have been built through decades of moderating, consensus politics. Yet widening economic inequality and deepening political polarisation are straining the stability of democratic institutions that underpin the EU. Nevertheless the current turmoil would most unlikely lead to a wholesale dismantling of the establishment in Brussels.
Steve Bannon is in Europe, meeting right-wing populists and helping stir a toxic cocktail of cultural fear and rage. Though protests and mass strikes are in France’s DNA, Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right Rassemblement National, previously known as the Front National, has been blamed for fomenting violence in recent protests. Financially she’s deeply beholden to the Kremlin and is seeking to topple Macron.
Despite the disarray across the Continent, the EU would still stand its ground, even if far-right groups made great inroads into the European Parliament in May 2019. But few would adopt the hardline goal of breaking up the EU altogether – not least because Brussels gives them substantial subsidies. There would be horse-trading and switching loyalties. In the end the centrist parties would still govern.
5
@J. von Hettlingen Populism isn’t the problem in Europe, it’s the symptom. If the EU were to give back more autonomy and power to its member nations then these problems would go away. The EU has essentially become a way for the most powerful nations in Europe to conquer the continent without war.
6
The EU was setup for failure. Instead of creating a partnership of nations, a government to oversee all of the EU governments was created. It’s a given that anytime you try to centralize a government over such a large population and wide diversity of cultures you are going to eventually going to have factions of that society try to break free. If member nations had been allowed to keep more control then this could have been avoided. And as a note to my fellow Americans, this is what will happen if Democrats are able to centralize federal power more in our country. States have substantial power for a reason. Loss of self determination leads to loss of unity.
6
Superlative summary illustrated superbly by fantabulous photographs. Reminds me why I subscribe to the New York Times.
3
It seems the populistic trends are going to cause all EU countries to pull further away from the ever closer integration that the EU aspires to and desperately needs to pursue to be effective and successful. Unfortunately, I think the fear of a common enemy, like Russia or China, that militarily or economically threatens the EU, will be the only thing strong enough to reverse this regrettable trend.
12
@lmsh The EU should have been built more like a trade partnership with common defense instead of a centralized government over EU member nations. There needs to Be autonomy at as small a level of government as possible. That is far more responsive and representative than large centralized governments are capable of.
2
I think about the EU quite a bit. Just too much of a challenge to bite off all at once. A common currency and trading block make total sense to me. A strengthened European Central Bank ( with the help of 15 trillion in credit swaps and loan guarantees from the US) also makes sense too. But the political control aspects do not make sense and will not and are not succeeding. 28 different countries ( not "member states") with completely different political views and historical perspectives and value systems need to be able to act independently from one another. And they can't. Kaboom.
19
@Mark
Articles like this need to make a splash. The headline 'Fitful progress in EU, some failures' will not grab the modern reader's attention. They fail to mention the countless ways the EU works very well indeed and that it welcomed (if not actually loved) by most in Europe. My children can work anywhere from Finland to Portugal and enjoy similar rights whilst doing so. There are few obvious 'political control' aspects that I can see. Clearly the British imagine some, but they and other noisy types are really not typical.
10
Mr. Macron should focus on France and not the globe or even the EU. He dropped the French ball while he instead was trying to save the world from Global Climate Change. Not only is he totally out of touch with the French working class who live pay check to pay check, he looks out of touch regarding security matters as well, with 2 dead at a Christmas Market committed by a terrorist known to police. He was more concerned to levy high taxes on French drivers than security matters and also economic security of the French working class.
Most people want to live in security, it is the main responsibility of any government. It is the expectation of citizens that their government will prioritize security matters higher than all other matters, including Global Climate Change.
Reminds me of the band playing during the sinking of the Titanic.
19
@Philly - I totally agree that Macron had his eye off the ball... But it's not really possible to guarantee that no person "known to police" will ever commit a terrorist act. The problem of watching potential terrorists is just too difficult and the lapses all too easy to condemn. Remember, to watch one potential terrorist who is considered to be at the highest threat level but who cannot be kept in custody takes twenty to thirty people.
The French here deserve our sympathy first.
6
@Philly
"Most people want to live in security, it is the main responsibility of any government. It is the expectation of citizens that their government will prioritize security matters higher than all other matters, including Global Climate Change."
Higher than all other matters. At what point do Global and Local Climate Change risks tip the priority order you aver, Philly?
6
When is the NYTs going to stop there dumb repeated false charges of Russian cyber war against the west. The fact that the US is more involved in cyber spying and putting out vast amounts of anti Putin stuff on line, its time to just stop. Merkle and Macron are held up as paragons of virtue and the masses who vote contrary to them are fools and knaves is vastly over simplified. The yellow vests are charged with being minions of Trump and Putin. In fact Macron was in people's faces with his probusiness tax goodie for the wealthy policy. Especially when he raised regressive gas taxes. Macron's efforts to buddy up with Trump was a political flop. Merkle is the face of corporatist Germany. The Germans drove austerity to get their banks repaid. The banks were involved in the same kind of shenanigans as banks in the US. Despite what this story implies, voters are angry because the Merkle gov't was more interested in big corporations than voters in the east who were increasingly unhappy with the way they were not full participants in Germany's economic prosperity. Now that an economic slow down looms the established parties are seeing dark days ahead.
5
In a larger sense, the EU has been a success. You can travel across borders freely without traffic jams holding up trucks carrying freight around to different countries, you don't have to have different currency in every country you visit, and the European market is truly European. Students have access to universities across the continent.The biggest success, of course, is that war between European countries is now unthinkable. There are also huge challenges, some of which are the result of the EU, but many are simply challenges resulting from the times - globalisation, mainly. But living here in Germany, at least, one doesn't see the "catastrophies" in daily life. One sees challenges that need to be tackled. In so many ways, life is very good here.
35
@Nancy S.
The "very good" life you enjoy in Germany came at the expense of much of the rest of Europe, particularly the South, which is why virtually the entire continent of Europe is one, big unstable system at this point, with the EU on the verge of collapse.
And it would appear that many of your fellow citizens inside Germany disagree with your sunny optimism, and are witnessing some "catastrophies" in their daily life in the lives they lead outside of your bubble, given the extraordinary political turmoil Germany is experiencing at the moment.
And it's wonderful that "students have access to universities across the continent". It's inconvenient to note that the youth unemployment in many European countries is staggeringly high, and even in places like France is north of 20%.
4
Nancy S.@ In Germany this summer and taking trains and driving around I could not see one sign of immigration in parks, train stations, and etc. Looks nothing like the images we are used to. If this one million immigrants are not integrating and having decent jobs where are they? My only guess is that they got shipped out of Berlin, Munich and Frankfurt, Dresden and etc. to small towns whose Volks promptly punished Merkel. If correct, we are seeing the same divide of big cosmopolitan areas versus rest of the country. Same as US, England and France.
2
I like Macron, I really do - but he's not the man for France at this place in time. Let's not forget that his election was largely due to the collapse of France's two major parties, and the fact that he ran against LePen in the run-off. A highly unusual set of circumstances combined to put a neoliberal in office - in France, of all places!
But the fact remains that what Macron is selling - neoliberal policies and an even stronger embrace of the EU - is increasingly what the European public is rejecting. As in other Western countries, including the US, those left behind by globalization are rising up, and more of the same ain't gonna cut it. It says a lot about Macron's hubris that he was unable to see this.
I posited upon Macron's win that his presidency was simply delaying the inevitable reckoning for five years. If I were a betting man, I'd wager that Le Pen or Melenchon have a higher chance of winning the next presidential poll than does Macron.
23
@Vin
I agree, Vin. I'm trying to interest the Brussels/Luxembourg/Strasbourg complex in a shift from the 'U' in the EU 'label' to something like "Commonwhealth (sp. mistake intended) of InTERdependent European States". CIES. Perhaps rumination on such an idea would appeal to both the journalist professionals (literary and visual)of, and the savvy commenters on, this brexit-macron-merkel piece? I dare to hope that you and Nancy S. from Germany will agree ...
2
Much of truth in this but the US as much as Europe has not yet woken up to the fact that, as far as wages are concerned we are becoming a world economy with two important results: First wages in 'the West' are being held down as we move towards a worldwide wage rate and secondly, which has proved the most destructive, that International Money has been able to manipulate the world economy to protect capital and wealth at the expense of wages. The result is an ever increasing gap between the rich and the rest leading to unrest, populism and depression. Until the international accounting rules, transfer pricing etc, etc are brought under control for the benefit of "The Common Good" and we are able to develop an ethical trading system wealth disparity will continue to grow and we will be unable to sort out our problems. Fair taxation makes resources available where they are needed and effective, at the grass roots, instead of in the pockets of a minuscule proportion of the world's population.
9
Obviously, Europe needs to remove the "hectoring Trump" from the mix. He has more than earned his dismissal. It might also be an excellent step to quickly settle the Brexit concerns and then for Europe to try and reconnect within itself.
The problems are more than a test for any competent leader much less newbys. The world has its feet to the fire.
2
I have lovely and efficient Polish workers doing my home renovation, a cleaning lady from Spain, my children speak German, English, French and Portuguese. We travel to London and to Amsterdam on a whimp. Europe is still strong. All the petty arguing of the right will go down the drain once we focus on a positive image of Europe.
5
The confusion of the Euro and England. The slow motion reality of de centralized existence. When Italy goes back to the Lira many countries will go back to their currencies. France and Germany dominate the Euro but the vast majority of the other countries wang out. Look for stronger dollar.
2
The European Union will eventually go the same way as Yugoslavia and the USSR for we are inherently tribal and no amount of social engineering can make it otherwise.
4
On one hand, EU leaders are now paying the price for having turned to austerity ten years ago when the financial crisis hit: inequality rose, and this allowed the seeds of extreme-right and extreme-left to germinate and grow.
On the other hand, we have Putin, who keeps dousing oil on the fire by manipulating opinion with fake news and supporting extremist parties. It is no surprise to me that Macron is now in Putins sights, after Merkel's announcement of her retirement. Macron had proposed a few months ago to strengthen a common European military.
7
Popular media often appears "authoritative" with citation of some obscure authority to make a point: "Dominique Moïsi, a French political scientist, said European leadership was diminished because the leaders of key countries were now all focused inward and hold little power in a game of competitive decay."
In transition is a western industrial economic system increasingly in conflict with social norms for democratic capitalism. The shift in the role of worker and how we earn our money has been in progress-since the 1980s. European middle-class was working class life and ample consumption. Manufacturing afforded ample jobs. The auto was king of the road.
With all drum-beat on prospects from the digital era, 4.0, artificial intelligence, etc. it will not be an era of ample jobs, wage-labor, and full-employment with satisfying job descriptions. Cars will not be Kings of the road. The auto industry will (is!) shrinking along with other industry sectors.
A sense of loss pervades among those yet accustomed to jobs, wages, and steady consumption of consumer goods while those who never experienced the benefits from the industrial era and the consumption economy rush to the west for yet some remaining chance of improvement in their condition.
Even as national borders are sealed we produce the next generation of replacements for human workers in domestic shops like ABB.
What fails Europe is notion of a good life in new era work for human participation in civil society.
4
Interesting read and, from my perspective, for the most part true. Having lived in Europe for 11 years, I've seen what has been basically a long and accelerating nose dive from the "golden days" of the EU dream (2008 and possibly 2009 & 2010 when the financial crisis hadn't yet fully set in) to its current moribund state. I don't think the EU as a political entity (or at least one in anything approximating its current form) has many more years left. The introduction of the euro was clearly a mistake for almost all countries not named Germany, and the EU drive toward "ever closer union" a pipe dream in a continent marked by strong national/cultural feelings. I salute the gilet juanes for making their disgust with the reigning ideology of neoliberalism clear. The current system is a dead man walking. What replaces it remains unclear, but whatever it is, it must include "the expendables," those ordinary people, like the gilets jaunes who until now were a mere afterthought in the schemes of people like Macron, Juncker, Cameron, Renzi, Hollande, Dijsselbloem, Merkel, and others.
3
The answer lies with the monetary idea of austerity which has proven time and time again to fail. Austerity has to go.
1
“Russia’s cyber-assault on democracy and threatening moves in Ukraine”.
This notion of Russia attacking Democracy is a pathetic diversion concocted by European "Leaders" and fellow travellers who have brought the EU to the brink of disaster because they have no respect for Democracy.
The troubles in Europe are traceable to a series of decisions made by EU institutions, as follows in summary.
1. EU Common Agricultural Policy overproduction led to dumping of tomatoes on the world market.
2. African Tomato growers switched to fishing
3. EU funded Supertrawler [Atlantic Dawn, in one expedition can catch the ANNUAL livilihood of 3000 African fishermen] drives African fishermen to penury and to migrate north. The migrant crisis builds.
4. EU/NATO destroy Libya and create a Failed state
5. EU/NATO attack Syria in an attempt to overthrow the Syrian Government.
6. The Migrant/Refugee Wave floods Europe.
7. EU Civil Society, weakened by Austerity Ideology is overwhelmed
8. EU Citizens reject the EU institutions that have created such disorder
9. And the rest is History
3
For those in the anarchist camp, there is much to admire in the misgovernment of our European allies. Long gone are the days when the euros, well on the road to creating a cohesive European partnership, were able to look with disdain at the Uber-Capitalist U.S. of A, with the ill-treatment of its minority communities, and, of course, the environment. Perish the thought, but it looks like the socialist/statist ideology of the euros has lost its sheen. Taxes are way too high, no jobs and state benefits are flowing to the new immigrants (arising from guilt for the destruction of the Jews): not, as they say, a pretty picture. Any surprise (really?) that people are taking to the streets. Enjoy the spectacle; it can only get better.
1
@heyomania Regardless of the EU's current political upheaval, and the awful influx of mostly young men from the MENA countries, the EU is a success, as it was formed to stop former enemies fighting each other. Europe is mostly at peace, and when there is a mass shooting, it is a terrorist attack and not a dissatified teenager killing his former friends.
6
There is no way EU could give the UK a pass without facing a rebellion. And the latter has already seen the chilly landscape post BREXIT after two years of limbo. The real solution is to hold a Referendum 2.0 and hope common sense returns. If PM May could engineer a no Brexit, the UK may have a scar but she won't have to face a more dire consequence. That would be the best case scenario. Or else it is a lose-lose proposition for both the EU and the UK, with the UK losing much to the EU. PM May gaining any concessions from the EU is just unrealistic even people didn't from Oxford or Cambridge would understand
@Bos
It isn’t not clear if you are from the U.K.
The original referendum was a once in a lifetime vote. In or out? The majority of those that voted voted to leave. In my opinion that meant a hard brexit. If we can get a few confessions on the way, great. If not who cares, the U.K. survived before the EU and it will survive after. That doesn’t mean it won’t be painful but life in the EU is painful. It is just like in life, the smaller countries being bullied into taking a stance that agrees with the richer countries, to keep the richer countries rich and maintain their dominance of the weaker countries. The EU had failed because it let too many join the club. All the EU beurocrats could see was more money into their cofffers. It wasn’t thier problem to worry about migration. Just get the money in. The U.K. has seen the light and decided to leave a club that no longer caters to its needs. What is the point of giving billions a year to the EU then getting part of that money back to spend of projects the EU have agreed to?
1
@Bos
Of course there will be a second referendum.
The hard-Right who suckered people - mainly English - with their absurd fantasies of Empire 2.0 have proved to be a busted flush: witless, clueless and plan-less. They're unravelling as of today with their last-gasp attempt to unseat Theresa May, which will fail. Brexit, particularly hard-Brexit, will be so damaging to the UK that Parliament will likely continue to obstruct it and eventually hand over the difficult decision to the people to think again.
It's pretty much a given that anybody who talks about 'pain' for the British people is someone - usually a comfortably retired person - who deep down tells themselves that the pain ain't going to be felt by them, only others.
1
@Kevin
Sure, life goes on in some ways. But your Nigel Farage kind of argument is not right. It was proven to be incorrect immediately after the vote.
While I am not from the UK, I kinda know intimately about the British Empire history. The world evolves. One may blame the EU for everything - and perhaps it shoulders a good part of it - there are other factors, like the Saudis and Russian, and subsequently, Chinese, dislocating the housing market. This is just one such example.
Previous PM betting his job on BREXIT is like Trump couldn't win the U.S. election, tapping into the Zeitung is a powerful but dangerous thing. Everything is undoable if you are willing to turn around. There is no such a thing called once in a lifetime deal, just as Scotland might vote again to break off from England. Then what?
In closing, Britain is no longer an empire, an aging Britain with nowhere to go is getting harder. That is reality. But putting up barrier is self-inflicted. If you got to have another chance, you should think twice. Besides manipulating you into voting for BREXIT, what did Nigel do for you really?
1
We in Europe are were Merkel lead us. Widespread distrust in the EU is the root of most troubles, and Merkel policies are the main reason.
Farewell and good riddance, Angela.
2
The EU has 28 member states (soon 27, maybe), everyone of them with a different identity and past. The European Project is about having a shared future. Unsurprisingly there are rows, disagreements and conflicts of interest. The EU, 440 million people, let in one million people from the war-torn Middle East, displaced by foolish US meddling. Should they have mowed them down with machine-gun fire? The debate of the direction of the continent will on ad infinitum, probably, but the alternative is unthinkable.
14
Europe was doing just fine so long as individual EU countries maintained some sense of sovereignty. Merkel never really understood that it was Germans themselves, and not the EU, that brought about the incredible economic success in that country. If this were not so, we would have seen the same economic boom in other EU countries such as Italy and Turkey.
@Conservative Democrat
Turkey is not a member of the EU.
6
Of course, the single market that proves access to 400 million customers didn’t benefit Germany and its companies. EU expansion east didn’t give German companies cheap labour options right next door or by importing that cheap labour, the euro, which is undoubtedly lower than the German mark would be, has not contributed to Germany’s huge trade surplus and status as a creditor nation. No, in a world of globalisation Germany’s “success” is all German made. I put it in “” because you need to study a bit more about Germany and realise it isn’t really much of a success either (bridges closing, overcrowded schools, low pay part timers etc) and this all with the help of the EU where Germany puts rules like deficit limits but never applies them to itself.
1
@Conservative Democrat European countries share their sovereignty for the benefit of all Europeans. The EU is a very young organization of peoples compared to the United States. It is a work in progress whose founding documents continue to evolve as the union evolves. In the years before the adoption of the Federal Constitution there was very little unity among the former British colonies. There is considerable unity among Europeans.
Member states are experiencing varying degrees of turmoil resulting not from the existence of the EU or the use the Euro by a majority of the member states. The turmoil is generated by some of the same stresses facing Americans compounding by wars on Europe's borders that drive desperate people to the stability that is Europe. Increasingly the EU is providing a larger market for firms in the EU that position them to compete more effectively globally. This will continue. The EU also seeks to stem migration by investing in development in Africa to create jobs and opportunity there, which is also opportunity for Europe.
Macron is likely to succeed and the UK will seek continued strong ties with the EU, if not to remain in the EU. New leaders are emerging. Some that are now critical of the European project over the long haul will commit to build a stronger EU rather than to destroy it. Bannon's centre for subversion of democratic institutions will fail miserably with the success of the dream of Europe.
3
Brexit, Trump, Salvini, yellow vests, open borders in Europe, open borders in the American Southwest. We all see the elites getting richer by driving wages down with cheap labor and replacing white europe and America. You don't need to be an ethnic nationalist or worse to call this out. I see the people catching on.
7
The EU is still in a much better position than the US.
11
If only - indeed.
A great article summarizing issues on fragmentation of Europe.
Could it be Mr Rumsfeld's "old Europe" is indeed now too old to find a path forward?
Or for that matter utter contempt of our POTUS towards these professional politicians of EU is not that off the mark.
I am surprised that not one EU or otherwise quoted here blamed our POTUS - but actually looked in the mirror and saw the problem.
What do they say about alocoholics. First path to curing to addiction is to recognize it.
Brussels has taken an importance of Washington DC - without ever anyone agreeing to it. Fact has become the law and so do many of it's actions.
This European parliament is a joke.
Even Iraqi parliament actually puts more brakes on it's own prime ministers than this parliament. What it does most effectively - and I dare say only - is the constant shuttle between Strasbourg and Brussels.
Europe has many famous summer time music festivals which draws hordes of folks. European parliament is a festival 365 days a year - members drawing salaries and benefits - that even some in wealthy Europe can ever dream of drawing in their life time.
EU needs - a solid restructuring - to use Wall Street phrase.
And most restructuring starts with slimming down HQ.
Brussels needs to be slimmed down for EU to succeed.
Or what did one of our generals said during Vietnam "we had to destroy the village to save it."
4
@Neil You echo the comment of Secretary of State Pompeo about distant EU bureaucrats unresponsive to the needs of the people. He clearly lacks knowledge about the EU. The Federal bureaucracy of the U.S. is far more massive and intrusive into the lives of Americans than is the EU. Europe remains a union of sovereign states that share their sovereignty for the greater benefit of the people of the member states.
In fact, the EU bureaucracy needs to be strengthened in some areas. There are some agencies that the EU needs to develop such as an EU emergency management agency like FEMA in the U.S. But, fortunately so far the EU has not faced disasters that destroy much of major cities.
4
@Neil
"What it does most effectively - and I dare say only - is the constant shuttle between Strasbourg and Brussels."
Yep, democracy costs. The Strasbourg/Brussels thing is a popular target for fanatical Eurohaters. The foundation treaties of the EU mandate that the European Parliament is not confined to the territory of a single member state. That's so no one country could be accused of running the show. Yes, it could be undone but that would require treaties to be re-written - which in a true consensus democracy is always difficult and long winded. The cost is 400 million euro annually - a couple of days military adventuring for the US.
Of course, some Americans - and particularly Mr Trump - are rattled by the EU. Its good relations with China, the success of its industries (especially car making!) and its GDP which matches, if not exceeds, that of the US.
The thing that terrifies me as a Brit is that Brexit risks my country becoming culturally, politically and democratically closer to the train wreck that is 2018 America.
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If only sovereign states didn't try to lean on other countries all the time. Declare independence. Make your own laws. Stick to them. Demonstrate leadership at home. Stop asking for help. See: grow up; take responsibility.
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“...With Brexit and increasing tension and polarization between governments in the E.U. and the weakness of the Brussels system, there’s more of a role for national and multilateral initiatives...But if we move that way, we need leaders, at least people who can motivate and lead smaller groups of countries...
If an open-mike and a smoking gun ever had a love-child, it might tweet things like the above...
Said more directly:
> Europe has no shortage of global leaders or aspirants who can do things like tax carbon or dole out free stuff or open everyone’s borders to everyone else looking to come in
> The shortage is for political “middle-management” – i.e. people who can do lesser things like fight fires and police streets and permit buildings and maintain public school quality and availability
Now, notice something across the US and China – which country:
> Is always on the lookout for a “fresh face” enabled by “small contributions” and swearing to uphold “progressive values”
> Runs a more regimented federal bureaucracy – admittedly as human and fallible as any other – that works back from the substantial year-to-year growth of its economy
Hint:
> Which country has a surfeit of Senators talking themselves up as future presidents, most with absolutely no prior executive-branch experience
.....
When France was a nation, its cuisine and cities – and energy and information industries – were the equal of any nation anywhere...
Now – as a global state – not so much...
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By the time the UK gets a plan together or decides on another vote; there will be no more EU.
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Germany would never allow that to happen.
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@Johnny dangerous
Yeah, right.
I voted in the 1975 referendum when the UK re-affirmed its membership.
I don't think a week has gone by since then without Eurohaters mouthing off about the imminent collapse of the European Project. Not one week. Yet 45 years on, the EU is still there and it's the Brits who are on the point of collapse.
What's much more likely after Brexit is the breakup of the 400 year old United Kingdom. It would actually be for the best if England voted to leave the UK, letting everyone else get on with participation on the EU.
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Putin must be spilling his borsht all over his presidential dining hall from laughing so hard. And with the idiot in the White House keeping everything off balance here, stateside . . . and the bonus of having three or four like minded dictators abroad to high five now and again - well let's just say, Putin's having a pretty good year.
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@Clearwater Actually we the middle class are catching on. The game of ethnic replacement , outsourcing and illegal labor is clear. Outsourcing jobs and shunting wealth from the middle class to our uniparty is pretty ugly to most of us. Curse us all you want, call us racist, we won't accept that fate.
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And people wonder why the UK voted 52% to 48% for Brexit.
The EU is on track to implode, it will not matter one way or the other if Brexit occurs or not. At this rate, the EU will not be here much longer anyway, with or without Brexit.
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@Philly
A lot of doomsayers here. It's true, the EU is at a low point now... but then, in 2019 we will be free of our main drag, that poisonous insider, the UK. And plus, the sinister reign of Angela "Preacher's Daughter" Merkel will be finished too.
In perspective, we have come very far. There was a time without Schengen, without Euro, without BCE, without ECJ, even without European Parlament. Slow steps forward. Not one step backwards. Allways getting more "union". There is a reason for the EU existence: countries and people are better "in" than "out", and that will not change.
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@Manuel
Obviously Spain has more to gain by remaining in the EU. I’m not sure what you mean by “poisonous insider”. Is it because the U.K. has seen the light?
You mention many things the U.K. citizens are not keen on, ECJ. Our judicial system is highly effective. If a legal issue has gone to them highest court in our land and to the ECJ is beyond me. It just helps to keep the fat cats fatter and in a needless job.
It obvious we were going to leave the EU when our government didn’t let us get tied up in the Euro. Has we joined the EU I do believe it would’ve been impossible to even consider getting out. Fortunately our government made the right decision at the time.
Best of all we are getting rid of the European Parliament, free to getting back to making our own laws and rules without the need to get 27 other states to agree. The EU worked when there was just a few states but now it is in danger of failing because it is too big. Maybe there will come a time when we have formed EU2 and get back to the original founding states for our mutual benefit. And not trying to please everyone all the time. Fingers crossed and that day won’t to be far in the future. As it stood originally there wasn’t a lot wrong with the EU. EU2 is coming.
@Kevin
"I’m not sure what you mean by “poisonous insider”.
Really, Kevin? As a Brit, you don't understand that?
Let me enlighten you. It's nothing to do with 'seeing the light', it's to do with being a pain in the proverbial. It's about spending every minute of the our 45 years of membership whining and complaining, demanding special deals, rebates and opt-outs - leaving other to pick up the tab - and obstructing, manipulating and always insisting the UK wins everything. No other member state has been half as obnoxious and demanding. That's what 'poisonous insider' means.
For much of that time, the EU has accommodated the demands of its specially entitled British member but of late, has rather hardened its heart against the UK's special pleading. And like the selfish boy that couldn't always win, that child has taken his ball back and flounced out.
Doubtless you'll be quick to complain that the UK, along with several other Western European states has always been a net contributor to the EU coffers. Apart from the huge economic boost the UK gets from EU membership (and, being in my 60s, I remember just how economically ruined the UK - the sick man of Europe - was before we joined), such argument just reveals fundamental greed. The EU is about the richer nations assisting poorer ones to become richer, so they in turn...
Brexit (and its associated Europhobia) is of course a cult, a religion. One that's determined to wreck the UK in the name of blind, zealot ideology.
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And to those who brought about a great deal of this via Expansionary Austerity c. 2013 Cameron, Merkel, et al): terrific work.
Conservatives just couldn't get enough of that Old Black Magic:
Step 1: Austerity
Step 2: ??????
Step 3: Economic Growth!
What could go wrong?
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The European Union is so painfully lacking union that it raises a question about its currency. Anybody remember what the U.S. currency was before the Civil War? There wasn't one. How the euro can be the currency both of democracies such as France and totalitarian states such as Hungary is beyond me.
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@Civilized Man Well, it isn't the currency of both France and Hungary...Hungary and most of Eastern Europe have there own currencies. Being part of the EU is not the same as being on the euro currency.
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@Civilized Man
The currency of Hungary is the Forint, not the Euro.
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@Civilized Man That isn't how economics work though. Im in Bulgaria right now, and while they aren't on the Euro, the Lev is tied to it at a fixed rate. I do not pay the same for something that someone in Austria or Belgium does. Currency is a unit of exchange, not of value. That's why purchasing power parity is a much more effective measure than normal GDP.
I hope it was worth it merkel allowing a million illegal economic immigrants or migrants as the press likes to call them. What did Europe gain from allowing them more crime terrorism the rise of nationalism and the far right all this because of one leaders bad decision all other countries in Europe are now made to suffer no wonder they want to restore their borders. Thanks for ruining Europe mrs. merkel
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@EAH They weren't economic immigrants. They were people escaping horrible wars (Syria) and their violent aftermaths (Iraq). Essentially refugees.
But I agree that it was too many. And too quickly. And not enough real communication with her constituents. Not enough coordination with neighboring countries. And not enough overall foresight to think about bringing peace to Syria (or forcing peace) and the region and the eventual repatriation of at least many of the refugees.
But is Europe ruined? No it's not. Not by a long shot. It's a vital, progressive, major portion of the world and yes, it has problems but it's not ruined. Far from it. Go easy on the hyperbole.
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@EAH
Immigration is an engine of growth. Tax revenues increase. Cultural diversity grows.
Only white supremacists think otherwise
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@Clearwater - "They weren't economic immigrants." How exactly do you know that?
For another NYT article this week, they visited a migrant hostel close to the borders of the EU and found 800 men with just one woman. For this hostel at least, this gender balance alone is strong circumstantial evidence that they're economic migrants. Refugees will travel as far as possible as families. But that's not proof. Proving whether a person is a refugee, one way or the other, isn't ever going to be easy.
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And THIS is the model for neo-liberalism? Every Democratic candidate has the same refrain: "Why can't we be more like Europe?"
No thanks.
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@Connecticut Yankee - you seem a bit confused about what neo-liberalism is. It's nothing to do with 'liberals', in the progressive sense. It's an extreme free-market conservative position, letting the free market decide pretty much everything. It's currently most dominant in the USA, not Europe.
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I hope Merkels open door policy for illegal economic immigrants or migrants as the press likes to say was worth what did Europe gain by letting them in Crime,terrorism
, rise of the far right let this be a warning to the USA
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The only real solution is to show the horrific “Proof is in the Pudding” to Brexiters, otherwise they will continue to fight for fantasy Brexit forever.
1. Crash out to World Trade Organisation rules
2. Watch hundreds of corporations flee to the EU
3. Watch layoffs approach 1 million
4. Watch lorries etc backed up for weeks at British and EU ports
5. Then the domino effect of complete economic collapse
6. See the tax base collapse
7. Suspension of government pensions
8. Watch the NHS die
9. Skilled foreign workers flee
10. Food riots
11. At each step, the Pound Sterling crashes lower and lower, igniting runaway inflation
12. Go begging on hands and knees for the EU to take us back
It will take 20+ years to recover from this stupidity, while Boris and his cabal sit on top, wrecking whatever is left.
— OR WE COULD STOP THIS MADNESS NOW.
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@William
I’m afraid 52% of people that bothered to vote in the Eu referendum disagree with you. I think we all thought, just leave.
We did not know that our government was going to try and broker a few concessions.
Don’t believe what you read. Lorries backed up for weeks. The EU wants to get goods into to U.K. just as much as we want to get goods into the EU.
The U.K. £ is going to crash no matter what we do it’s just an excuse to let the richer get richer as usual. It’s already crashed a few times, it just means we won’t go to € Euro countries for our holidays.
You get a better perspective by living in the U.K.
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The EU could be the largest and most stable economy in the world if they contain nationalism. This is why the US media always talks about their struggles. The EU makes the corporate friendly media shrivel as if dunked in cold water. China is way smaller than the US and will struggle now as Xi implement totalitarian methods. But the EU is really going to be far stronger than the US. Putin is trying to subvert it but has had only limited success in Britain, Hungary and Poland. Britain may figure it out soon. The US needs to get rid of the GOP. Trump is just the ugly head of that monster. Fortunately he is relatively dim as an individual and likely to harm his own brand through his imbecilic behavior and beliefs.
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It is now becoming indisputable that a new economic paradigm is necessary if the West is to avoid a cataclysm.
But before that can happen, it's time to admit that the EU has failed. Spectacularly. And it is simply not up to the challenges of the 21st century. All the "Happy Talk" that says otherwise needs to stop.
Then we need to summon the urgency of September 2008, when the world stopped spinning and heaven and earth were moved in order to bail out the bankers and Wall Street, but this time we need to bail out the middle classes and working classes in developed countries that have been decimated by globalization and technological change. And to show them a path forward as the Age of Automation commences.
Leadership to drive it in the form of a combination of Abraham Lincoln, Churchill, Teddy Roosevelt, and FDR would be lovely.
I won't hold my breath.
But make no mistake. Change is coming. The status quo is simply unsustainable, in one country, after another, after another. The problems are systemic. And they can no longer be ignored.
We are approaching an inflection point in history.
There will be a revolution, one way or another.
The only question is whether it will be violent and destructive, or peaceful and productive, with an alternative, more inclusive form of capitalism emerging from the bottom-up to replace the top-down, Corporate, shareholder-driven model of Capitalism that has the world heading towards an abyss.
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There was this guy, Asselineau. He packaged himself as « le frexit candidat ».
It was really staggering the number of ads he plastered all over Paris in 2017. I kind of wondered if Putin gave him money for the ads and the glue to cover Paris with an image of his face. And money to hire people to glue the ads up everywhere at 4am.
The guy did not even get 1% of the vote in the first round, and so obviously, he was not in the second round. I think he looked too « far right », even if he really wasn’t. But this is not to say that he was a good guy.
Overall, the Eurozone has a trade surplus.
And government budgets are less out of balance than at other times. Except for Italy.
Greece seems to have turned the corner.
And one can only look at Britain and Brexit, and say, « happily it is not us ».
The Euro is very stable in value, and talk of abandoning it has shriveled away, except in Italy.
Trump too, same thing « happily it is not us ».
The « gilets jaunes « , they will get tired and go away.
Yes, things aren’t perfect. They never are. But it seems fine enough to me.
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@David Martin Good points. Only in Britain has a party that wants to withdraw from the EU won an election. And the process of withdrawing is tearing both that party and the country it leads, apart. We are seeing a tectonic shift in how people in Europe think of themselves: the Erasmus generation is not about to give up the EU because they have benefited from it. Ten years ago, it looks as if the UK withdrawal might lead to EU disintegration. Now it seems more likely that the UK will disintegrate. With Britain out of the EU, the Euro countries will be able to concentrate on what works, instead of constantly struggling against British efforts to undermine it.
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@David Martin
The birth rate in Greece has collapsed and young adults have fled. “Turned the corner” is seriously superficial.
All of this to kowtow to German and French banks. Merkel’s worst-ever decision.
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The Europeans are in disarray per usual. The French do not understand fiscal responsibility along with the Greeks and Spanish, the English do not know whether they are coming or going, the Germans are afraid they do not know what a German identity is any longer, the Poles and Hungarians are corrupting their democratic processes and the Italians aren’t clear about remaining in the EU.
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It's got nothing to do with the "EU's" actions or inactions and everything to do with the self-serving political actions of Cameron and his gang, which backfired like a cartoon truck, followed up by the disastrous and duplicitous autocratic actions by May, BoJo, and the rest of her gang.
English politicians -- specifically Tory and right-wingers -- have failed their nation and brought it to the edge of possible ruin. AN utterly self-inflicted wound by Tory dissemblers.
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Well if nothing else, we now have a functional definition of "populism" where there was none before: "Pigheaded selfishness without regard for the region, the nation or the people, communicated with an air of self-righteousness and ego-based anger rarely equaled in other circumstances, most often coupled with blatant racism, contempt for others' ethnicity, and unearned arrogance."
Yet another thing we share with our Western brothers.
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