The EU is in terminal decline
(https://billmitchell.org/blog/?p=62083)
October 23, 2024
… I juxtapose the political machinations that the EU President is engaged in to consolidate and expand her power within the European Commission with the reality that Member State governments are becoming dysfunction because social instability and political extremism are rife.
Then I reflect on my experience as Chancellor of Britain – a great success I should say, although I was told I had broken all the rules. It tells one how stupid the rules are …
EU decline
Regular readers will know that I am a trenchant critic of the European Union, which has legalised neoliberalism.
By that I mean that they entrenched neoliberal ideology into the treaty structure of the EU, which is quite a different matter from a particular political party gaining office on a neoliberal agenda.
In that situation, voters can easily eject such a party at the next election when it realises how dysfunctional it is.
In the case of the EU, voters do not have that option.
Trying to change the EU treaties is a nigh impossible task and would need a unified approach from all the Member States.
And with Germany standing in the way, such a unity is unlikely (in the extreme).
The results of that approach have been fairly clear – especially since a subset of 20 nations decided to adopt the common currency – the euro.
The people were guaranteed convergence and, instead, have been forced to endure divergence.
Greece has been decimated as a prosperous nation state.
Other nations are in deep trouble.
Now, even the mainstream press are starting to realise what a mess the EU has become such that there is no incentive to act with common purpose anymore.
The UK Guardian article (October 17, 2024) – EU’s weak or distracted governments make unity of purpose hard to achieve – was a break in the normal mainstream pro-Europe commentary.
The article notes that key Member States such as France, Spain, and Germany are now witnessing political instability and the resulting government machinery has been weakened.
The narrative emerging is that the “current European leaders are not up to the job”.
Meanwhile, European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen is currently engaged in a process to consolidate her power by controlling information and doing secret deals with power brokers.
Her ‘divide and rule’ tactics with the Member States and their Commissioners at the EU is another story again.
Her machinations among the power brokers stand in contrast to her inaction on things that matter – like actual improvements in well-being via innovative policy.
Which is why Macron, Scholz, Sánchez and other leaders are in trouble.
The hoy-polloi are sick of it.
When Mario Draghi decided to deny his past and release his report (September 9, 2024) – EU competitiveness: Looking ahead – he outlined a scary vision for the Continent, which would require around €800 billion per annum to address.
No-one can agree as to who will fund this type of agenda and Germany is clear – it will not permit any sort of increases in borrowing that involve shared liability at the Commission level.
So there is a combination of Member States in political chaos with the Right wing parties surging in elections which is crippling the discretion of those state to do anything and a centre that is more powerful than ever yet largely incapable of meeting the challenges.
The UK Guardian article believes that:
It could be a messy, politically tempestuous period for the EU. But the force of external pressures will not go away … The “force of external events and pressures” will create its own momentum, whether through climate impacts such as floods, fires and storms, public expectations for high-quality jobs, or the threat of a revanchist Russia.
The whole arrangement is a joke.
(…)
