May 19, 2013
THERE IS NO EUROPE:
Postcard: Love thy neighbor? Europeans say 'no' : A Pew Research Center study shows public support for the European project has fallen and distrust between countries is growing. And the most down on the EU are the French. (John Laurenson, 5/19/13, Deutsche Welle)
Pew talked to 7,646 people in eight EU countries in March this year. Their conclusion is that no-one believes in the European Union any more; except the Germans. And that the process of European integration that was supposed to bring down barriers between European countries has had the opposite effect.Belief that European economic integration has strengthened the economy slipped right across Europe from 2012 to 2013. It decreased five points in Germany. Now only 54 percent of Germans think economic integration is making us richer. But that's the only place in the survey where most people think this. In Britain it's now 26 percent, in Greece and Italy 11 percent. France registered the biggest drop in confidence in the economic benefits of the EU, at 22 percent they are now more disillusioned than the British.French approval of the EU as an institution has also plummeted; approval ratings are 19 percent down on last year. That is much more than any other country, again overtaking the British.When the French have to look to Britain to be convinced that the European Union is a good idea, you know you're in trouble.
Nations don't have neighbors--they're ethnic entities.
Posted by Orrin Judd at May 19, 2013 11:32 AM
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