by Maj. Gen. (ret.) Yaakov Amidror
National identity crises are fueling growing resentment in some nations toward the European Union • With several critical elections ahead, it will take a year until we know whether the EU experiment will continue to stumble on, or if its end is near.
Europe is on the brink of historic decisions.
After Britons voted in June to exit the European Union, this week Italy
was rattled by a constitutional referendum that backfired and turned
into a protest against the Italian elite and the country's place in the
28-member bloc.
The turmoil in Italy, however, may prove the
most dramatic and perhaps even critical, as Italy is the EU's third
largest economy after Germany and France, and it is one of six founding
members of the EU.
It was not the proposed constitutional reform
Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi sought to introduce that brought
about the bruising defeat; it was the rage of the people that fueled
massive voter turnout. This vote aimed to protest against the Italian
establishment directly, while indirectly, it protested everything being
part of the EU means.
The helplessness of average Italians, who feel
they have no future and that the bureaucrats in Rome and Brussels alike
are dismissive of their plights, needs and concerns, was the root cause
of Renzi's defeat, and once the true scope of his failure became clear
-- some 60% of Italians voted against his constitutional reforms -- he
resigned.
It is unclear at this time how the Italian
vote may affect the European Union as a whole. This largely depends on
how Italy weathers the crisis: The sooner a new government is formed,
the more stable its grip on the economic and financial spheres will
become. Once Italy's banking system is on solid ground again, the fewer
the chances that this crisis will spread to other EU member nations.
Should the opposite scenario materialize,
however, it would not come as a surprise. A banking crisis in Italy
would prove detrimental to Europe as a whole, and later the world.
Moreover, a prolonged financial crisis in Italy could have fateful
results, and it may affect the elections scheduled to take place in
France, Germany, and the Netherlands in the first half of 2017.
The deeper the potential crisis in Italy runs,
the higher the chances are that anti-establishment bodies and advocates
of divorcing the European Union will grow stronger. Failure by pro-EU
bodies in these countries would lead to the bloc's collapse, and this
would only accelerate if anti-EU parties rise to power in France and
Germany.
A scenario in which German Chancellor Angela
Merkel loses the spring 2017 elections could prove the breaking point.
Merkel's importance to keeping the EU together cannot be underestimated.
She seems to understand the responsibility placed on her shoulders, so
it is no wonder she decided to seek a fourth term in office.
Historically speaking, Britain's decision to
exit the EU ushered in a year of changes, meaning it will be at least a
year before we can tell whether the extraordinary experiment called the
"European Union" will continue to stumble on, or if its end is near.
The dissatisfaction felt by the Italian
public, as illustrated in Sunday's vote, is not unique. This is a global
crisis that has manifested in the Nov. 8 presidential elections in the
United States, and far more violently in the Middle East. In countries
including the U.S. and France, these feelings led to the democratic
replacement of governments and political leaders, but in the Middle East
they have led to a bloodbath.
Citizens the world over feel governments are
failing to provide them with they need: job security, quality living
conditions, and a better future for their children. The gap between the
public's expectations and the government's ability to meet them is
growing. People want change and leadership pays the price -- by vote or
violence -- for failing to provide it.
Nevertheless, there seems to be growing
resentment toward the European Union in some nations, mainly over two
reasons: an immigration crisis and a national identity crisis.
Migrants are considered a burden on state
budgets, undermining taxpayers. In addition, they also undermine the
locals' sense of security, regardless of whether that feeling is
warranted. Proof of these concerns can be found in Merkel's statements
this week advocating a partial ban on face-covering veils. For many in
Europe, such veils represent the kind of concealment that is
unacceptable in Western countries.
The national identity crisis has been brewing
for a while. To become EU members, European countries had to give up
certain elements of their sovereignty, and to some extent, of their
national identity. But over the years, the power wielded by Brussels has
increased significantly, despite the fact that its officials were not
elected by anyone.
Some countries have grown increasingly sensitive to the impact the EU has on areas that compromise national character.
The bitter memories of World War II triggered
the formation of the European Union, and fears of another pan-European
war prompted a waiver of some national symbols.
But 70 years on, the human need for a national
sense of belonging has not diminished. On the contrary: Many have
concluded that divorcing the bloc may be the only way to restore the
lost sense of national pride and sovereignty.
Israel has found it more difficult to deal
with the bureaucracy of the EU than with the individual countries,
mostly because Brussels has sought to foster a consensus based on the
lowest common denominator, and Israel has been a convenient target
against which resolutions are easy to introduce. This has been a
convenient arrangement for some countries. The EU is the one to target
Israel while they are able to profess innocence, cynical as it may be.
It is vital that Israel stay out of EU politics, over which it wields no influence to begin with.
But Israel must also strive to improve its relations
with the bloc's members. Europe is an important and close neighbor,
historically and geographically.
Maj. Gen. (ret.) Yaakov Amidror
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=38633
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