The USA and Euroscepticism

Americans do not really comprehend the European Union — its highly complex proceedings, the amount of time it takes for decisions to be made and the various institutions of which it is comprised. U.S. politicians and technocrats, at least those who are called to collaborate with the EU on a wide range of common interest issues, are worried about the rise of euroscepticism, as was reflected in the European parliamentary elections on Sunday.

As former member of the U.S. House of Representatives Bart Gordon put it, the EU is a black box for past generations, because they grew up in an educational culture of Western references. That statement is perfectly understandable, because the EU was at an early stage then. Nowadays, it has expanded geographically, achieved deeper political cooperation among member states and gained competences. In fact, a great part of transatlantic relations goes through the European Parliament. Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) collaborate with their colleagues in the European Parliamentary Assembly not only reinforcing freedom and democracy in the world, but also around technical issues such as consumer safety and banking regulation. Members of the European Parliament’s delegations quite often go to Washington and have meetings with Congress, building alliances and promoting common-interest issues. This work will potentially be undermined if 30 percent of new MEPs distrust the EU. Transatlantic cooperation, specifically trade and investment, is a major issue at stake, because both sides are negotiating an important facilitation agreement, which is expected to bolster growth and employment.

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is the well-known trade agreement presently being negotiated between the U.S. and EU. It was not expected to pass easily through Congress. Now, it is quite clear that it will be equally difficult to pass in Europe. The agreement has to be approved by the European Parliament where eurosceptics are taking the side of those who support the view that “globalization forces” will deprive the electorate, which they are representing, of jobs.

Eurosceptic leader of the UK Independence Party Nigel Farage, who won the European parliamentary election on Sunday, estimated that the impact will be much greater within countries where those who voted in protest will be shaping the political agenda for the EU. Maybe he’s right. Surely, euroscepticism is a challenge that is putting pressure on pro-EU political forces. Some politicians have already given in to crucial issues of European unification. Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy is against the Schengen Treaty, which allows citizens of the EU to travel freely within the 26 European countries.

However, the causes of euroscepticism remain complex and difficult to tackle. In southern European countries, such as Greece and Italy, these causes are closely connected to the economic crisis and austerity measures. Even in countries not particularly affected by the economic crisis, like France, eurosceptics of the National Front won the elections because they were opposed, among other things, to the economic policies and the austerity measures that French President Francois Hollande was forced to take. An answer to this could be boosting the economy.

This change in policy will not satisfy all eurosceptics: The results in France and the UK, as well as the high percentage of far-right eurosceptic parties in Denmark, Holland, Austria and Finland can be seen from another vantage point — that national identity must be protected from “others” outside their borders, whether they are immigrants or EU bureaucrats. The level of extremism certainly differs in each and every one of the nationalist political parties, but that does not mean they do not have a common basis. Americans cannot comprehend the kind of nationalism that is accompanied by racism and a hostile attitude towards the other. The success of the U.S. as a country is based on the coexistence of nations and the ability to transform folks of different nations into Americans. With respective differences taken into consideration, the EU has a similar mission: to control nationalism that promotes a European identity. Taking the results from the European parliamentary elections into account, Europe will not be able to live up to the challenge.