EUROPE21 Jun 2018 20:15
Well, so much for the domino effect. When Britain voted for Brexit, some people feared – and others hoped – that it would trigger a wave of referendums across Europe; Europeans’ frustrations over migration and sluggish growth would make them want to leave the EU altogether, it was thought.
Two years later and this hasn’t happened: only 21 percent of Europeans have a negative view of the EU, compared to 40 percent who are positive. Sure, they’re less keen than before the financial crisis (57 percent were pro-EU in 2007), but there has been a notable upswing since the Brexit vote. What’s more, support for the Single Currency is at a record high, at 74 percent, while 58 percent are optimistic about the EU’s future.
So is the EU out of the woods? Far from it: the Eurosceptic far-right is gaining across the board (most recently in Italy) and the only thing countries can agree on regarding the infected issue of migration is that someone else should deal with it. Meanwhile, France and Germany are at odds over the future of the European economy.
The three issues are closely linked, and they all point to a difficult few years ahead for the EU. Another minor salvo sounded across the organization’s bows this week, in the form of a call this week by the far-right Sweden Democrats for a referendum on ‘Swexit’ after this autumn’s Swedish elections.
Such a referendum won’t happen any time soon – the Sweden Democrats are polling at about 20 percent and have no support for their idea from other parties – but in Britain the idea of an in-out referendum was long unthinkable until Nigel Farage’s UKIP pushed it to the top of the agenda. Those who want to see the EU prosper will have a fight on their hands.
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