日批在线视频_内射毛片内射国产夫妻_亚洲三级小视频_在线观看亚洲大片短视频_女性向h片资源在线观看_亚洲最大网

USEUROPEAFRICAASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
Opinion
Home / Opinion / Op-Ed Contributors

Simplistic slogans of no benefit to EU

By Fraser Cameron | China Daily | Updated: 2016-12-08 07:40

Simplistic slogans of no benefit to EU

European Union (EU) flags fly in front of the European Central Bank (ECB) headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany, December 3, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

Another referendum and another shock for the European Union. By linking his political future to a successful outcome of a plebiscite to amend the constitution, Matteo Renzi was playing for high stakes. Perhaps if he had waited to see the results of the Brexit referendum and the surprising Donald Trump election victory he might have taken a different course. Now Italy and the EU have to deal with the impact of his reckless gamble.

On the plus side, fears of a sharp drop in the euro proved groundless. There was a slight fall after the results then the euro recovered. And Italians are used to short-lived governments. President Sergio Mattarrela has asked Renzi to stay on until the budget is passed. Then he will either appoint a caretaker prime minister or call new elections.

The opposition parties including the Northern League and Five Star Movement are pushing for new elections and calling for a further referendum on whether Italy should remain in the eurozone. Most Italians dislike the government's austerity program which they see as being imposed on Italy by German Chancellor Angela Merkel. They are also angered at the lack of solidarity from other EU members in dealing with the massive inflow of refugees in the past 18 months.

Italians have always been among the most pro-European citizens of the EU but now attitudes are changing. Italy is a founding member of the EU and in a different category from the UK which has always been Eurosceptic. But no one can predict how Italians would vote if there were to be a referendum on keeping the euro. This is what worries other eurozone member states along with the huge debts of Italian banks.

Elsewhere in Europe the populist forces will have been heartened by Renzi's defeat. Marine Le Pen, the leader of the French National Front, said that the result was a blow to the "absurd austerity policy of the EU". She is likely to make it to the second round of the French presidential elections in May but is unlikely to defeat Francois Fillon, the center-right candidate who has been moving steadily to the right and stealing some of her policies.

In Germany the populist Alternative for Germany will certainly make it into the Bundestag following the September elections but both major parties, the Christian Democratic Union and the Social Democratic Party, have excluded the possibility of having them as a coalition partner.

Renzi's defeat means that there are now only a handful of socialist leaders in government in Europe. Although millions of workers are calling for social protection against globalization, the traditional socialist parties are struggling to deliver winning policies. Indeed many working class voters are moving to populist right-wing parties such as UK Independence Party in Britain and the National Front in France.

But these parties offer simplistic slogans for dealing with globalization just like Trump's campaign promise to "bring back 25 million jobs" to the US. If Trump does take the US down the protectionist road this will have major implications for the rest of the world, including the EU and China.

Most likely Italy will remain in the eurozone and muddle through as usual. With so many elections in 2017 there is no prospect of any major new initiatives by the EU. The 28 will gather for muted celebrations in Rome at the end of March. There could hardly be a worse time to call such a celebratory gathering as British Prime Minister Theresa May plans to trigger article 50 that same week thus setting Brexit in motion.

The EU will remain in a weak situation until 2018 or 2019 when the UK is due to leave. The question then is whether EU leaders can muster the political will to move the European project forward.

The author is director of the EU-Asia Centre in Brussels.

Most Viewed in 24 Hours
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
主站蜘蛛池模板: 2019国产在线 | 成人一区在线观看 | 国产一区二区三区免费看 | 天天操天天摸天天干 | 久久久美女 | 色多多在线视频 | 国产午夜精品一区二区三区 | 91人人视频 | 亚洲婷婷免费 | 特级免费毛片 | 91导航在线观看 | 色六月婷婷 | 日一区二区 | 日韩中文在线字幕 | 国产成人精品亚洲 | 狠狠狠狠干 | 国产成人一区二区在线观看 | 99国产精品一区 | 六月伊人 | 日韩欧美一二三 | 激情网五月 | 91精品网| 日本理伦片午夜理伦片 | 一级大黄色片 | 精品久久久久久久久久久久久久久 | 羞羞小视频 | 国产美女久久久久久 | 成年人免费观看视频网站 | 久久91视频| 中文字幕日本在线观看 | 午夜精品久久久久久久久 | 成人国产精品视频 | 久久午夜国产 | 久久福利影视 | 九色视频偷拍少妇的秘密 | 五月婷婷在线观看 | 天干夜夜爽爽日日日日 | 国产精品美女在线 | 能看的毛片| 五月中文字幕 | 超碰98在线观看 |