The eurozone crisis has redrawn the institutional structure of the EU and intergovernmentalism has become a default mechanism to solve problems in an emergency – but that risks backfiring by exacerbating the democratic deficit and crumbling EU unity
More intergovernmentalism, more differentiation
Europeans are losing faith in the EU
UKIP is just a small part of a broader phenomenon spreading across the developed world that resembles a political backlash against globalization and interdependence. But how should mainstream parties respond?
Although it may seem that Europe is down and out as it struggles with multiple crises, things are in fact far, far better than they appear on the surface.
A new ECFR analysis shows that trust in the EU has plummeted across the continent. Both southern debtors and northern creditors feel like they are victims.
Does the launch of a new Eurosceptic party in Germany suggest there is fertile ground for a real alternative ahead of elections later this year, despite Merkel's refusal to countenance change?
Whether political leaders or citizens, the pragmatics have failed to build a prosperous and wholly democratic EU. The system we live in neither provides for nor admits any legitimate representation for the citizens of Europe. Now it’s the turn of the dreamers. Today, they are the true realists.
The Cypriot crisis has made it brutally clear just how bad misgovernment with the EU – and the eurozone – really is. The only way to fix this is for genuine banking, fiscal, and economic union within the eurozone, backed by legitimate political instruments.
The latest Eurobarometer figures are showing clearly what the election results have been hinting at: hit by the crisis, Europeans have lost their confidence in the EU. After having saved the euro, we must rescue the legitimacy of the EU.