By : Lucky Kardanardi, S.IP
The EU (European Union) is the most successful regional organization to integrating the region. Evidence of the EU’s success is the use of the Euro as a single currency which only the EU can implement. Besides single currency, EU has successfully created a single market and visa that supports free trade and free movement in Europe. The result is The EU has a competitive commodity and in terms of economic strength, in 2019 The EU’s GDP was 15,593 trillion USD which makes the EU the second largest economic power after the USA (World Bank). The EU also has a comprehensive institutional structure with the existence of European Council, The Council of EU, European Parliamentary, etc. These institutions make the EU a main actor in European geopolitics, not only a forum of European Countries.
Pic 1.1 : Flag of European Union
The EU’s Success as a regional organization doesn’t guarantee that it will be free from criticism and pessimism. In fact, the trust to the EU has always been dynamic. In a poll that questioned whether the EU had a positive, neutral, or negative impact in 2015, 19% said the EU had a negative impact, this figure rose to a peak in 2016 of 27% and decreased again the following year by 21%. Finally, in 2019 17% of people thought the EU had a negative impact on them (Eurobarometer). This percentage is a reflection of the response of some European who are sceptical to the EU policies, programs, and projects. People who are sceptical of the EU named Eurosceptic. According to Paul Taggart (2004) Eurosceptic is divided into two, namely Hard-Eurosceptic and Soft-Eurosceptic. Hard Eurosceptic is people who force their country to leave the EU without compromise such as renegotiation with the EU. While Soft Eurosceptic is people who emphasize changes within the EU to make the EU more profitable or reduce the losses incurred by the EU.
On the one hand Eurosceptic is a threat to the EU, especially Hard-Eurosceptic in ‘important’ countries such as Germany and France because if these two countries leave The EU it will be a big loss for the EU. The immigration wave since 2015 followed by terrorism case in France and Germany causing populism popular in Europe. Schengen area has become a concern by European because with Schengen immigrants are free to move in the EU’s area. As a result, many Europeans are sceptical of the EU’s immigration policy which accepts immigrants from Africa and the Middle East. This brought populist Eurosceptic to the attention of elections in Germany and France in 2017. In Germany Frauke Petry is Populist Eurosceptic who promised to take Germany out of the EU, but Petry has not much support in Germany. Unlike in Germany, in France Le Pen with her anti-EU political narrative was qualified to the final round of French Presidential Election 2017 against Macron. Although Macron as pro-EU managed to outperform Le Pen, Le Pen’s achievement was a warning to the EU that in France the anti-EU movement was large enough to brought Le Pen to the final round of French election 2017.
On the other hand, EU is a construction agency of the EU. Scepticism by European in the form of criticism opens up discussion for the people and government to shape the EU becoming a better institution. Learning from Brexit,I believe that the EU doesn’t want to lose its member countries again. What the EU has to do is listen to any criticism from Eurosceptic groups. The criticism from Eurosceptic is a sign that the EU not fully accommodating yet to all interests of European people.
Criticism for the EU is quite complex, but we can classify it into 3 areas namely political, economy and social. In terms of politics, the issue of sovereignty is an issue that is often criticized by Eurosceptics. For instance, EU’s member countries are must be in line with the EU to conducting out their foreign affairs which means member countries are not allowed to conflict with the EU’s foreign interest. It shows us that EU’s members countries don’t have fully sovereignty in their foreign affairs. Some people also criticize that the EU is lack of democracy. For example in the European institution only the European parliament which is directly elected by people, while other institution such as the European Commission is not. Yet, the European Commission itself has a great power in decision making.
Pic 1.2 : European Union Headquarter in Brussel, Belgium
In the economic field, the single market is often in the spotlight because each country has a different level of competitiveness. Germany which is more competitive than Southern European Countries will certainly benefit itself and vice versa for Southern European country. Some people criticize that the single market is not fair for Southern European. The single currency also received a lot of criticism from Eurosceotics because their country enables completely independent to setting their monetary policy.
In the social field, the issue of refugees and immigrants is often becoming a serious problem for EU countries. The EU’s policy of accepting refugees has come under fire from Eurosceptic. This issue has been temporarily resolved by limiting the entry of refugees from Africa and the Middle East and working with Turkey to accommodate the refugees.
Perhaps the problems faced by the EU are complex and it is a direct consequence of the agreement between stakeholders in the EU. Maybe not all Eurosceptic’s critique will be viable. However, these criticisms create dialogue between each party and make Eurosceptic a pressure group shaping EU becomes more beneficial to all parties. On the other hand Eurosceptics are a challenge for the EU because some of them have intentions to bring their country out of the EU. In this way Eurosceptic is like two-edge swords, on the one hand as a threat and on the other hand as the party that indirectly shapes the EU for the better.
Source :
Kardanardi, Lucky, “Peningkatan Popularitas Kelompok Eurosceptic di Prancis”, Jurusan Hubungan Internasional, Universitas Pembangunan Nasional “Veteran” Yogyakarta, Yogyakarta, 2020.
Taggart, Paul & Szerbiak, Aleks, “Contemporary Euroscepticism in the Party Systems of the European Union Candidate States of Central and Eastern Europe”, European Journal of Political Research, Vol.43, No.1, Agustus 2004, hlm.1-27.
“German election: AfD leader Frauke Petry faces perjury fight”, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-40961113 accessed Septemer 4, 2020
“GDP(Current US$)-European Union”, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?locations=EU , accessed September 4, 2020.
“Standard EU Barometer 91”, https://ec.europa.eu/commfrontoffice/publicopinionmobile/index.cfm/Survey/getSurveyDetail/surveyKy/2253 , accessed September 4, 2020.
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