In Varietate Concordia
In Varietate Concordia, or as we call it in English: United in diversity. This is the official motto of the European Union. But is it still as united? Or is it falling apart? I believe that the European Union is failing. Just look at Great Britain leaving the EU. But this is not the only problem the EU is facing. At this moment, the EU is facing more than one problem. These problems are dangerous, and if left unchecked, will for sure cripple the EU for a long time.
Meddling too much?
A important and general problem is that Brussels is meddling too much in people’s lives. The EU is enforcing rules that are would be better enforced if smaller institutions in the country itself enforced them.
For example, Italy. The current Prime Minister of Italy, Matteo Renzi has hit out at the EU who have demanded more information on its budget to stop another disaster. The draft budget that Italy handed in was scrutinized by the European Commission. The EU said that the budget was not in line with the key guidelines. Renzi was totally not satisfied with this statement. “You cannot tell us what we can or cannot do!” he said. He wants to address the needs of the Italian citizens, not Brussels.
And it is not only Italy who suffering from the EU’s involvement. Spain came under pressure from the EU again. Brussels’ elite told the country to submit its draft budget by October 15 at the latest. But Spain struggles with bad economic performance and very high youth unemployment. And now on top of that, they will also have to inform Brussels on how to combat/solve this deficit. Luckily, Spain got away relatively unharmed, because this time, the EU Commission chose not to impose a fine on Spain over its failure to hit Brussels deficit targets.
And not only budgets are the cause of this. Jean-Claude Juncker said that a lot of the laws made in Brussels should have been left to the national governments. As a result the EU has lost its popularity with the ordinary people. And eventually these people will have to vote for who they want to lead them. If they are not satisfied with the current politicians and the habit of meddling too much, they will vote for politicians And with the rise of Euroscepticism, Eurosceptic parties also grow. And if such parties become big enough, they have more “power” to push for leaving the EU.
Growing Euroscepticism
One thing countries who have left or are thinking about leaving have multiple similar “problems”. One of these is the fact that Euroscepticism is growing. The EU’s image has been dropping and dropping in the recent years.
27 member states, 27 opinions.
So why is it that this “Euroscepticism” is growing? Much of the dissatisfaction with the EU can be found in the way how Brussels has lost its ability to act as one. Europe is divided. It’s getting harder and harder to get to a decision with all 27 member states. Each countries has their own ideals, ideas and strategies. Everyone has their own opinion. This of course makes it very hard to come to an agreement. This indecisiveness to overcome certain obstacles was seen in the Eastern Europe, in Macedonia. Macedonia wants to join the EU, but the slow process of Macedonia’s entrée has decreased the attractiveness of the European Union. Countries like Macedonia are doubting the ability of the EU to act on certain issues or problems. If it is already slow when they are not even part of the EU, how slow could it be when they are part of it.
Refugees in Europe
Another thing that feeds the growing Euroscepticism is the amount of refugees that are pouring into Europe. The refugee crisis is going on and on, with no clear plan in sight. The important forces driving people to go to Europe are the conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. These are the countries where the vast majority of the refugees are coming from. But it is not only war that forces people to flee. Poverty, violation of human rights and an decreasing feeling of security are also reason for people to flee. European countries struggle to house all these refugees and some have already tightened border controls. This has left tens of thousands of migrants stranded in Greece and Italy, raising fears of a humanitarian crisis. Lots of refugees are being send back to their country of origin. A lot of them perish on the journey to Europe, most of the time drowning in the sea when their ship is too heavy. But still a lot of them are in Europe, and have no motivation to go back.
This of course is another great example of a cause that feeds Euroscepticism. All these refugees have to be housed in camps or in asylum centers. A lot of times these refugees make the news in an negative way. They disturb the peace, harass other people and other things. Of course this is only a minority of all the refugees. But still, it does not paint a pretty picture. Regular citizens are afraid of these sort of refugees, and want them as far away as possible. It is only normal for people to think like this. This is a major source for Euroscepticism, as these people vote in the elections. And with these fears, it is highly probable they will vote for a political group that is against these refugees.
Sceptical politics
Another problem these countries face, can be directly linked to the fact that Euroscepticism is growing. Because where there is Euroscepticism, there are bound to be political parties who benefit from this kind of skepticism. Look at France, Marine Le Pen and her Front National, the Dutch party PVV with Geert Wilders or the German Alternative für Deutschland with Frauke Petry. These parties benefit greatly from the growing amount of Euroscepticism. And not only from the Euroscepticism. These parties also are using the growing insecurity and instability as important points for their campaign. Should they win with a great margin, they could push for leaving the EU.
For example, take a look at France. A very important country to the EU, but with growing Eurosceptic parties. The growing threat of terrorism is an important “source of fuel” for the growing Eurosceptic parties. France has been hit by numerous terrorist attacks, each worse than the one before. The French people are afraid of another attacks. The growing amount of refugees isn’t helping either. It is quite easy to enter the country under the disguise of a refugee. How many could have already “infiltrated” the country; is a question many people are asking. And the fact that the EU is not coming up with a solid plan or solution is not helping the love for the EU.
Another one, is the Netherlands. While not as important, it is housing a lot of refugees. Euroscepticism is really growing there. And the PVV, an Eurosceptic party, is taking full advantage of this. They want to leave the EU, and are using these points to make clear that the EU is not the EU of the past. That were better off alone and isolated. With elections coming up this spring, chances will be high that the PVV will get a lot of votes.
Conclusion
So as you can see, there are some major problems Brussels wants to tackle to keep the EU from becoming even more divided. Euroscepticism is probably the most important one to tackle. This is what gets countries to leave the EU. Reasons for this Euroscepticism are the political parties, the refugee crisis, the indecisiveness of the EU and all the meddling from Brussels. These are the main problems the EU has to solve in order to stop countries leaving the EU. If the EU can be a stronger, more decisive institution, it will ultimately solve the current problems and keep countries from leaving. Because we need each more than ever.