Populist Nationalism in Europe and the Americas by Fernando López-Alves Diane E. Johnson

Author:Fernando López-Alves, Diane E. Johnson [Fernando López-Alves, Diane E. Johnson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780429793813
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2018-10-10T00:00:00+00:00

Bumbling Brussels and Stumbling London

Even as austerity made living conditions in the UK dire for millions, the EU did not emerge as a beacon of hope for those under duress. Brussels did not cover itself with glory in the Greek debt crisis. Instead of admitting that Greece had taken on debts it could never possibly repay, the European Commission, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) insisted on maintaining the illusion of the inviolability of creditors’ rights. These creditors were mainly French and German banks. By bailing out the Greek government, the bigwigs of the EU and the IMF were really saving these banks.

Unsurprisingly, Karl Otto Pöhl, a former head of the Bundesbank, candidly observed that the 2010 bailout “was about protecting German banks, but especially the French banks, from debt write offs” (quoted in “Bailout Plan” 2010). Pöhl had recommended slashing Greek debt by a third but was ignored by the powers that be. The 2010 bailout was followed by an encore in 2012. In both bailouts, European leaders were throwing good money after bad. Eventually, even the IMF accepted Greece’s debt dynamics to be “unsustainable.” Importantly, the situation of Italy, Portugal, Spain, or even France is not much different. Europe’s debt crisis has put into question the entire Euro project and even the future of the EU.

As if the debt crisis was not enough, the EU is facing a huge influx of people whom the BBC calls migrants and Al Jazeera calls refugees. Arguably, Blair’s Iraq misadventure and Cameron’s meddling in Libya are partly to blame. Nevertheless, the specter of dark-skinned hordes streaming across borders into one European country after another has sent chills down British spines. Brussels went notoriously missing as EU members squabbled about who would take in the new arrivals. The UK kept them off its shores but fears of streaming migrants or refugees dominated public discourse. Even though the English Channel is far too wide for the most intrepid of refugees or migrants to swim, this crisis gave UKIP and other Brexiteers the opportunity to argue that it makes more sense for the UK to sail away from its tortured continental neighbors.

Four months before the Brexit referendum, Cameron flew to Brussels to negotiate a deal to reform the EU. He threatened to leave the EU unless British reservations regarding greater political union, welfare benefits to migrants, sovereignty of its parliament, protection of the City of London, and its economic interests in the Eurozone were addressed. In his trip to Brussels, this former public relations professional was trying to run with the hares and hunt with the hounds. He wanted to sell himself to Euroskeptics as the man who stood up to the Europeans. At the same time, he was trying to pitch himself to European leaders as the one who would finally bind the UK firmly and irrevocably to the EU. Cameron returned claiming victory. The UK, in his words, now had “special status” in the EU. In truth, the prime

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