The political ballgame in Europe will change profoundly after Brexit. A clear realignment is already apparent as the dynamics between smaller member states, in particular, begins to shift.
Caroline de Gruyter is the European affairs correspondent for the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad.
The political ballgame in Europe will change profoundly after Brexit. A clear realignment is already apparent as the dynamics between smaller member states, in particular, begins to shift.
To increase its power in Europe and lessen German dominance, France needs to change itself and build a real European political union to underpin the euro.
Citizens across Europe are taking to the streets and the Internet to counter the Euroskeptic and anti-immigrant messages of far-right populists and nationalists.
Geert Wilders, leader of the far-right Party for Freedom, is unlikely to win the Netherlands’ upcoming election. But that won’t stop him from influencing government policies.
Supporters of the EU should draw on the experience of the Habsburg Empire and speak up for European integration, especially in the face of rising populism in many EU countries.
Migration has tested the EU’s moral ground to the limits. What is at stake goes to the very heart of what it means to be European: a community of shared values, moral universalism, and liberal and secular consensus.
Bureaucratic inflexibility is a bigger obstacle to the integration of asylum seekers than are the attitudes of local citizens. It is time Europe’s politicians took notice.
European integration has made Luxembourg prosperous. But at the same time, the country’s ailments are often signs of a broader European malaise.
Politicians in the EU who claim their countries should leave the union and become like Switzerland are misguided. Quitting the EU will not restore lost sovereignty.
On December 1, Herman Van Rompuy steps down as president of the European Council. How will the calm, matter-of-fact Belgian be remembered?