It’s Gotten So Bad in Europe, Even Eurocrats Begin to Worry
You know that things are bad when even the firmest believers begin questioning their faith. That’s what’s starting to happen in Europe, where the EU faces a dizzying constellation of threats and challenges and even the staunchest of eurocrats are beginning to express doubts.
Many people have lost trust in “entire institutions, whether national or European,” laments European Parliament Chief Martin Schulz. In an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine, he warned over a possible “implosion of the EU” due to the blossoming Euroskeptic movements in member states.
The main reason for Schulz’s gloomy disposition is the Dutch referendum vote last week against an EU-Ukraine trade agreement. It was the third referendum in a row that has gone against the EU’s interests, following Greece’s rejection last summer of the Troika’s latest plan and Denmark’s decision earlier this year not to seek closer security cooperation with Brussels.
In time-honored fashion, the EU’s response was to carry on regardless, announcing that it will shortly propose granting visa-free travel to Ukrainians despite the outcome of the Dutch referendum. In January, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker warned that if the Dutch voted NO, it could spark a “big constitutional crisis”; now, it’s as if it never happened.
“It may look as if we’re ignoring the Dutch voters, but we have to keep our word to Ukraine, which has met the conditions (for visa-free travel),” a Commission source said. It’s a risky strategy:
Large ranks of Dutch people are already deeply frustrated with the EU and their numbers are growing as fears about high immigration, slow growth and economic insecurity have risen. This is the second time in a decade that Brussels has ridden roughshod over the wishes of a majority of Dutch voters, who will have the perfect opportunity to express their dissatisfaction in national elections next year.
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