(Five-minute read)

As you know the EU has elections this year. With England leaving, France, Spain, and especially in Italy now representing sources of insecurity, there are bigger problems in store.

The question is what will we be voting for.

So here a few of the questions that need answering in no particular order.

Because of national interests! to what end is the EU actually of use?

What does it bring in terms of increased value, more jobs, more social security, more environmental protection, more education, more competitiveness?

How do you explain the value of the EU to a skeptical citizen?

Is the Europe Union the right project for the 21st century?

After all, we’re doing this in order to build something together. But this message is constantly getting perverted so that people don’t understand how affairs in Brussels are progressing for them and for the whole continent.

Should all EU decisions require parliamentary legitimization?

Now more than ever it is important for the European Commission to have an influential voice in order to stop any unrealistic decision-making happening in Brussels – and also to ensure that the legitimate interests of nation-states aren’t lost?

Should the ECB’s oversight function of overseeing the banks be separated from its responsibility for the monetary value of the euro?

Will the currency union continue to exist?

The history of the euro currency is a history of broken rules. Efforts to rescue the currency have broken even more rules, but can the currency union survive if rules go on being broken?

Who actually does what in Brussels?

In the EU people don’t see themselves as having a common identity they see themselves to be part of a city, a town, a region, a country. I am Irish, then, I’m European. I say as Europeans, we have to hold on to our specific roots, and that’s exactly what we do.

That should not be replaced with some kind of European uniformity.

That’s also what makes Europe so attractive because we can share this diversity with each other. And this is exactly what it is needed to be explained in the national dialogue with citizens.

Why?

Because many European citizens see Europe as a place of crisis, where billions in bailout money have been distributed from the north to the south.

How do we stop spreading this pessimism?

This can only be achieved by affording European citizens a direct means of investing in Europe with a reward for doing so. ( See the previous post on European citizens bonds)

European countries are not ready for proposals for a political union.

It’s very hard to agree to a political union when important rules have been broken in the past. That showed that people didn’t want a constitution at all for the EU. As such, it’s hard to agree to a political union in Europe now. It doesn’t have the majority’s support. So for now, you have to see it as a failed idea.

However those rules, like the no-bailout clause or the stability and growth pact, formed the basis of a rudimentary political union.

Is Europe going to accept budget deficits?

National interest is still the priority. Why?

Because political elites are voting for nationally and can only prepare for re-election nationally. That means that they have to try unceasingly to pursue national interests.

If you ever want an example of this no matter what the outcome will be, Brexit will deal a severe blow not just to England but to the Union.

The UK national interests if there is no clean break is going to put constrained on the progress of the entire continent by holding the remaining members’ hostage. The EU and UK are still negotiating a deal that would guarantee an orderly departure from the bloc however there’s no clarity as to what future trade ties between the two sides will look like.

In the century of global development, a retreat to our own backyards is the opposite of what we need. Great Britain, like all EU countries, will be competing on the global stage – one in which the EU is involved economically, ecologically, and in terms of currency.

With worldwide speculation and international financial locations and immigration – England will be overwhelmed alone.

I believe people feel that something has got to change and that we must grow together. This can only be achieved with a more democratic and transparent with the EU that looks after its citizens by allowing direct investment to secure an environmental Green Europe.  (See Previous Post-re-establishing the south of Europe the renewable energy hob of the EU.)

Against this backdrop, the upcoming EU elections will be characterized by the bloc as a “moment of truth”

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