The European Union can be strong if all of its members cooperate. Together, the 28 states are virtually unbeatable on the world stage. As both an economic and cultural force the European Union can be a giant, ready to meet any challenge posed. But new research shows that the EU is deeply divided. It appears that instead of the old European adage 'one for all, and all for one', 'one for ourselves' has been in the driver's seat, reflecting badly on the EU, leading to weakness and to criticism.
In 2002, six French Republican Guards ceremoniously carried the coffin of Alexandre Dumas to his last resting place in the Pantheon, France's impressive burial chamber for national heroes in Paris. Dumas wrote the world-renowned novel “The Three Musketeers”: three men who swore to support each other under the motto 'One for all, and all for one.'
2002 was also the year when in the Netherlands, one of the founding members of today's European Union, a politician rose up who asked what the Union had ever done for the Dutch. Pim Fortuyn became popular quickly and was killed by an animal rights fanatic. It is a coincidence, but the year Dumas found his rightful resting place is the year things started to go south for the European Union as an institution.
The motto 'one for all, and all for one' is something of a European thing. It dates back to the early 17th century, and it means that those who stand together cannot be broken. It resembles the oft-repeated analogy of the wooden stick. One stick can be easily shattered by bending it over the knee. However, tying multiple sticks together makes them all unbreakable. Instead, it is the knee that will get hurt.
The brush of sticks that is the European Union is under increasingly popular pressure from within, as support for the institution dwindles fast on the back of the disappointing question 'What has the European Union ever done for us?'
A new study by Pew Research shows that support for the European Union is at an all-time low throughout the Continent. That disapproval is spearheaded by discontent about the EU's handling of the economy and the refugee crisis.
The weight
But is the European Union the right institution to blame? The EU is the sum of its parts. The institution relies on the willingness of its member states to stick together and solve problems. Without that solidarity, the European Union itself is nothing. So it is ironic that the Union gets the blame when its member states continuously choose to go their own way.
In most countries voters fault the European Union for being unable to solve the refugee crisis. Yet this is because member states have for years refused to put the money where their mouths are.
In recent years the European Commission has devised a number of plans to prevent mass numbers of refugees crossing the Mediterranean. Despite written promises, the member states have not delivered.
In 2011 the European Commission proposed that EU member states provide North African states financial aid and economic incentives to boost local economies in hopes of providing jobs, thereby reducing the incentive to flee to Europe. Youth unemployment in those countries was 40-to-60 percent of the labor force.
The member states didn't pony up. Unemployment numbers remained the same, new dictators took the reins, and North Africans headed for the dinghies to take them north, just as the European Commission said they would.
In response, when the European Commission proposed to strengthen Frontex and its separate incarnations to keep the stream of refugees at bay, goals were again agreed upon by the member states. Again, they did not deliver. The stream of refugees swelled.
Pennywise, pound foolish
The same goes for macro-economic problems. At various points over the past years, the European Commission proposed plans to boost the Continent's economy. Again, promises made never materialized. In the meantime, although successive governments in Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Ireland were punished by eurozone countries for their bad economic stewardship, voters in those countries blamed the European Union for their hardships.
Whereas Italians, Greeks, and Spaniards were avid supporters of the European ideal five years ago, many have now turned against “Brussels.” They should be taking out their anger on the real culprits: their own governments.
This week the European Commission proposed another plan to boost African economies in an effort to reduce unemployment, while at the same time stuffing the proposal with tough incentives to African governments to keep those hit by hardship from fleeing to Europe. For this to work, the Commission needs €8 billion. It is again doubtful that member states will chip in.
And why should they, if the easy solution is to put the blame at the feet of the institution that is the EU? It carries no consequences, either in money or politically -- or so the governments think.
The governments acting with such short-sightedness are made up largely of centrist political parties. Guess which parties are being slaughtered in the polls?
Perhaps it is time that the EU member states subscribe to that age-old adage of 'one for all, and all for one.' It is likely to save them all. If only they would see that.
