The UK of 2014 is dead. With Scotland re-attempting to leave, Ireland re-attempting to unify and thousands of shocked Bremain-citizens pushing for a second referendum, Camerons little maneuver will cost the UK greatly. But underneath all the populism, nationalism and the xenophobia that fueled many of the Brexiters, there lies another undenieable truth: The EU in the current form is dead as well. The Brexit must be a wake-up call and cause the EU to take a long overdue look in the mirror.

When the result of the Brexit-Referendum hit the news, many people reacted with surprise and shock. Till the end, no one had really believed that the people of the UK would actually take this step – off a cliff. The steep dive the British Pound took is only a small sign of things to come.
Uncertainty looms over the European future now. But the real question transcends the economy and the danger of an all-out recession. The challenge the EU will have to face is one of identity. Are the European spirit and idea still alive – and, if not, how can they be resurrected?

“They’re back”

After the referendum, only one group of people had a real reason to celebrate: The right-wing extremists are back. They have returned to Europe’s political mainstream and demonstrated that they can not only take a sizable amount of seats within parliaments, but also that they can win. The Brexit is a major victory for xenophobes and nationalists all over Europe. What began as a domestic political maneuver by David Cameron turned into a win-win situation for the the specters of Europe’s past. If the Brexit is successful, other nationalist parties will try to stage similar “exits”. If the British manage to avoid leaving now, these parties will be enabled to cry murder, protest how the voice of the people is being ignored and how the “establishment” betrayed them. They will be handed the opportunity to define “democracy” – and they will take it. In the end, even more politically disappointed and frustrated people would flock to them.
The EU has lost the first of probably several battles – not for territory or votes, but for its survival.
And for this, there is no scapegoat; for this, the entirety of democratic Europe has to take responsibility. Sure, the conservatives took a special role when they used and fostered anti-EU sentiment in order to gather votes. But it is not as simple as that.

 

An overdue look in the mirror

The politicians should not let themselves be goaded by the provoking and outright racist statements of the extreme right wing parties, but concern themselves with their people instead. They need to sit down and re-evaluate themselves and their policies in earnest. Because some of the things the right-wing populists say do have some merit. There are problems. There are deficits. As long as these are not dealt with, they will grant credibility to people like Farage, Szydlo, Wilders and Petry.
And that also means facing some hard truths. Because how desperate must the “little guy” become, so that radical parties that demand social cuts become more attractive than the established ones? How much must the “little guy” fear for his future that he deems a nationalist past more attractive than a unified future?
It is absolutely crucial that the right lessons are learned from this. Because just maintaining the status quo won’t cut it. The merkelesque “sitting out of problems while actually changing nothing”, will not prevent future referendums.

 

Estranged lovers: Public and Politics

One of the hardest things to face is probably the sad fact, that the trust between the parliaments and their electorate lies in ruins. It has been replaced by a culture of unkept promises. The lack of honest communication on the side of the government, the patronizing, the repetition of the same phrases and hundreds of promises during campaigns that no politician openly intends on keeping. In consequence, the people’s trust in the leaders they themselves elected has been soured greatly. And this essential trust has to be rebuilt. If a man like Donald Trump gains voters for “saying how it is”, it demonstrates how much the political elite desperately needs to be honest with its own people, lest the right to define the truth “as it is”, will be handed over to populists and demagogues. Sure, elections can be won by lies – but in the end, this will cost democracy greatly.
How easily the people of Europe can be manipulated by their fears shows how much distance has grown between the populace and the institution that is the EU. While many important decisions are made in the EU instead of the national parliaments, national elections are still over-emphasized and the European ones are treated like orphans. Not only by the political leadership, but also in the media and the minds of the people. As democracy is essentially created by pluralist society and the public dialogue within, there has never been an actual European public. Many people still identify themselves with their nation and not with Europe – the very essence of “them and us”-thinking. The question even arises whether there ever has been a “European identity”.
The answer is: Probably not, but its long overdue.

 

Democratize or Fail

The people of Europe – the real people of Europe, not the clamoring racist minorities that currently dominate the debate – will have to make their voices heard and shape the EU they want.
Essential freedoms are now often taken for granted – and that is when they are most endangered. The more political campaigns prey on fears, the closer the people are to losing them in favor of fantasies of security or national supremacy. Just because it has happened in the past once, sadly does not mean that it will never happen again.
Stooping to scapegoating for the Brexit will not help, it only will erode Europe even more. Nothing can be gained by blaming the German refugee policy for the Brexit. Nor can any kind of blame game. These things are distractions, political kindergarden fights. Even worse, such “arguments” only fuel the campaigns of prejudice and xenophobia which continue to drive the right-wing extremists to new heights.

Combating them cannot be achieved by becoming them. It can only be done by removing the source of the fears that drives people into their arms and by showing the people how false their statements are. Not by giving in to their demands, but by demonstrating that the EU and the governments can be better, that they can provide solutions. Removing the deficit in democracy and regaining the trust of the electorate is what can turn this situation around. It will take courage, including the courage to tell unpleasant truths. But it will be worth it.

Just “business as usual”, moseying on like nothing happened will not strengthen the European spirit. It will bury it.