Reasons and Sources of Euro-Skepticism

This does not only concern the scientists, but the public as well. The rationalism of the European integration is an issue which was argued about since the Independence in 1991. Most of the Ukrainian citizens have a formed stereotype that “Europe is good”. They would be immensely surprised if said that more and more Europeans express their distrust for the EU and European institutions. Our tendency is mainly “anti-Euro-Skepticism”, which is proved by the opinion that the further a country is from gaining the EU member status, the more positive its attitude to the Union is. For us Euro-Skepticism seems something weird and economically unjustified.

However, the problem of Euro-Skepticism is one of the key topics discussed in the EU today, especially considering the historic enlargement of the Union. The ‘’permissive consensus” which allowed the European parties to promote the idea of the integration without any fear to lose their constituency, is now the matter of the past. The European integration project is experiencing not the best period. Today we may speak of Euro-Skepticism as a tendency becoming popular among both political elites and the broad masses.

Under the Euro-Skepticism we should understand the disagreement with the existing and future issues concerning the European Union. It is considered that Euro-Skepticism is much stronger in the Northern European countries including Sweden, UK and Denmark, while the most continental European countries tend to be more pro-European. Anyway, I do definitely agree that euro-skeptic movements exist in all European countries, including the “2004 members”. It is now claimed that the leader for Euro-Skepticism among the 10 states is Poland, whose government is named to be the force which will slow down the process of integration in future.

But it is obvious, that reasons, sources and the character of Euro-Skepticism vary from state to state. Firstly it should be mentioned that it is not a single phenomenon, but a complicated set of positions which vary from “soft” skeptic attitudes to the “hard” ones, which means the point-blanc rejection of the Union and integration. Different representatives of society in different countries possess the different attitudes. The reasons for skeptic opinion vary according to the state’s economic, political and historic situation.

Let’s pay attention to the issue of Euro-Skepticism and its sources in Germany. In Wikipedia the definition of Euro-Skepticism is supplemented by the statement “something coupled with a wish to preserve national sovereignty as opposed to a wish to build a federalistic EU-based nation state”. But in my opinion, talking about the skeptic tendency in Germany, this definition is not that crucial. I suppose that Germany is not struggling for national sovereignty preservation in the process of integration. Political elites in the Federal Republic of Germany have always considered their country to be the “model boy” for the EU. Germany may be called the cradle of the Union. Europe goes forward because Germany makes it go. I suppose that its national identity has being formed to some extent and strengthened in the EU building process. Ideological issues are not such a problem and source for the skeptic opinions as in the United Kingdom, for instance.

However, the Euro-Skepticism in Germany exists. It mostly developed after the German re-unification and the changes it brought. It strained the consensus between the political forces in Germany. This fact is confirmed by scientists, political elite’s representatives, by common people. I presume that the main reason for the Euro-Skepticism in Germany is connected with apprehension about the national economic development. Of course, it is also added by many reasons of other nature, but the economic factor is the focal one in this issue.

There exists an opinion that in the days of the Cold War Germany was a political dwarf but an economic giant. Today the country still resembles the political dwarf but has lost into the bargain its status as an economic giant. I do not know to which extent the opinion is true, but it definitely reflects the dissatisfaction of the German citizens with the processes taking place in the national economy.

According to the last Eurobarometer surveys, only 3% of Germans possess a positive attitude to the further EU enlargement. In 2004 this percentage was 49 (compared with 46% in France, 48% in Britain, 57% in Italy and 65% in the Netherlands). 80% of citizens are against the acceptance of Turkey, while 50% reject the acceptance of Romania and Bulgaria, which is actually already decided. But as for the enlargement of the Union with rich Island, Norway and Switzerland, most people do not object. The main reason for such an attitude is the fear of negative economic aftereffects of Eastern enlargement. 84% are afraid that there will be many cheap vacancies created, 64% do not want the lower social and living standards occur after the new members’ acceptance. The immigrants are not welcome anymore. The fear of unemployment is wide-spread. In addition, many people consider the existing economic model not the best one compared with the American or Japanese.

Besides, Germans are not inspired by the common European currency. The reason for it is the euro fall in exchange compared with the US dollar and the difficulty to predict its further development. Only 26% of Germans approve euro. But such levels of opposition are nothing new: ever since the 1970s two-thirds of the German population has opposed the idea of monetary union. The D-mark has become the symbol of Germany’s post-war successful development and it is not surprising that the public remains hostile to its abolition.

Talking more about the potential EU enlargement as a source of Euro-Skepticism in Germany, people are partly suspicious of the fact that the future of the EU and its “final destination” was never defined. But it is obviously concerning not only Germany, but the whole population of the Union.

Besides, many citizens claim that there exists the “deficit of democracy” in the European Union. This idea is supported by William and Helen Wallace, famous European scientists. Germans note the growing beurocratism of the European institutions. When 43% of Germans express trust to their national government, the European Parliament deserves only 26%, the European Commission – 21%. And most of the German citizens believe that the deficit of democracy within the EU is a problem too difficult to struggle.

This defective democratic legitimacy of the European Union is proved by many researches. For example, M. Strijneva considers that the European Parliament hasn’t become yet an institution which is enough trustworthy. The surveys reflect it clearly. The European Parliament annually avoids the decision-making in spending a large amount of budget, especially in the agricultural sphere. Besides, the distrust to the European Parliament and the Euro-Skepticism in general are also caused by the helplessness of the European Union to deal with the armed conflicts, especially on Balkan Peninsula. The most passionate opponents of the Union stress that the very concept of the EU is an invention of bureaucrats to create a bureaucratic and undemocratic superstate or even dictatorship.

The euro-skeptic population in Germany doesn’t think that the adoption of the Constitution will remove the democratic deficit. Actually, the project of the European Constitution is quite an interesting factor in the general issue of Euro-Skepticism. While in France and in the Netherlands Constitution (I mean, its failure) was the reflection of Euro-Skepticism existing in these states, in other European countries it is becoming the reason for skeptic attitudes. People observed how the common European ideals were ruining at the referendums, which made them think about the strength and necessity of those ideals.

Talking about ideals, it should also be mentioned, that the important “bearers” of Euro-Skepticism in Germany are young people, dissatisfied with the reality of today. The elder generations, especially the one who experienced the Second World War, still considers the United Europe the best guarantee to safe peace and to prevent the horrors of war in future. Younger generations are losing this feeling.

Another reason for Euro-Skepticism, proved by German citizens, is simply the lack of knowledge about the European Union, the mechanisms of its work and its benefits for common public. A big part of German population feels the isolation from the decision-making process and doesn’t feel to be well-informed about it. Perhaps, this does also give evidence for the democratic deficit within the EU. In general, only 53% of people interviewed approve the membership of Germany in the European Union.

In general, I do honestly believe, that if the European Union survives through all these euro-skeptic moods in Europe, it will happen only because of Germany. Germany really expresses strong ideological commitment to the issues of the United Europe building. Researching the reasons of Euro-Skepticism in Germany, we may conclude that it exists mostly due to apprehension, but not the real treat. People are mainly worried about the potential deterioration of the economic situation, which is reflected in the surveys and in particular in Germans’ attitudes to immigrants, which is becoming worse annually. The lack of trust to the European institutions such as European Parliament or European Commission is also an important factor of Euro-Skepticism, but it can’t be compared with one connected with economic fears and expectations. Germany is a country with a social-oriented economy, and it definitely wants to remain the same.

In fact, as a sincere proponent of the European project, I want to believe that the general tendency of Euro-Skepticism in Europe will be reducing. I suppose that in some time the European citizens will understand that only within the EU there national economies may be enough competitive to rival in USA, China, Japan and transnational corporations in the international market. If Europe wants to survive in the global world, it should go on with integration.

Anyway, at the same time I hope that the skeptic attitudes of the Europeans will be reflected more in details in the Ukrainian media. We really have to know where we go.