Sir, – The European Union is a flawed and failing experiment in federalism, with a common currency but lacking the essential common fiscal policy. It is widely seen to be ruled by a Commission lacking obvious political legitimacy. Severe damage has been done to the economies of southern Europe by EU policies, resulting in high unemployment and economic stagnation, apparently imposed, without any democratic accountability, by a combination of bankers and northern European politicians. Europe is a subcontinent divided among sovereign states, most of which have no strong desire for federal integration or political union.
Meanwhile the EU is seen to be forcing member states to assimilate large immigrant populations that differ radically from the ethnicity, national cultures and religion of the host countries. European politicians and mainstream media treat these genuine issues as if they were figments of the minds of populist extremists so they respond by attempting to delegitimise, defeat and exclude their populist critics rather than recognising and solving these genuine problems.
The EU hierarchy and national mainstream political parties are thus positioning populists as viable alternatives to the status quo. The policy alternatives that populists offer, placing emphasis on national sovereignty, unemployment and unwinding the euro, are widely popular and seen by many as less extreme than the open-border, federal fantasies of European elites. Right-wing populism is highlighting the questionable perception that the EU is a united, harmonious and liberal regime.
It is widely perceived that it is Brussels and Berlin, rather than the populists, who exhibit contempt for the popular will, for democratic self-government and for the interests of the smaller and weaker countries in the EU.
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The European Union has very grave problems that the existing leadership does not seem to recognise exist, and cannot or will not solve. Rebellions, such as Brexit, may be costly and disruptive to both sides in the short and medium term, but are understandable and might well come to be seen as desirable, and in time pursued by other members of the EU. – Yours, etc,
DAVID WHITEHEAD,
Kinvara,
Co Galway.