How Not to Fix Europe
Source: Jacobin
Europe needs mass movements that threaten its ruling elite, not technocratic fixes and a PR makeover.
Within twenty-four hours of the Brexit vote, Sigmar Gabriel — Social Democratic Party (SPD) chairman, German vice chancellor, and minister of economic affairs — and EU Parliament President Martin Schulz published a strategy paper aimed at dealing with the legitimacy crisis of the European Union and the rise of the far right.
Brexit prompted new hopes and fears that the European Union’s market-liberal forces are weakening and forced many EU leaders and mainstream media figures alike to call for renewal. In this context, Gabriel and Schulz have adopted — some might say stolen — the left-wing demand for a “re-foundation of Europe” that “belongs to its citizens.”