Why do so many people in Europe hate the E.U?

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Nicu Curtu

Have you recently heard on the news how the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union (E.U), and how political parties and people that want to destroy the E.U. are at the top of the polls in many European countries? What is their to dislike about the E.U, you may ask? Why would anyone want to leave a union that shares a common currency, and has no border checks? It seems like paradise, does it not? Well all of the above mentioned topics cause problems which anger many people. They may seem great ideas through the viewpoint of the foreign tourist, but they are abject failures to the people who they affect the most.

Let’s start with the E.U’s democratic deficit. The European Parliament is the only institution directly elected by people. Logically this should mean that the elected representatives should make the laws, right? Logic has no place in Brussels (the E.U capital) though. The 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEP’s), which come from all 28 E.U countries, have no power to write laws! As a comparison, imagine the U.S Congress not having the ability to write laws. Even though MEPs have no power, and are just a facade to give the fake image that the E.U. is democratic, they get treated very well. That is an understatement! They make 98,556 euros ($104,366) a year (about 740% of what average voters make). You might be asking yourself if the MEPs have no power, and can not write laws, than who can? This is where the reason why the E.U is so unpopular becomes clear. The people who have real power are called the European Commission. These are 28 people who are unelected, and can not be directly voted out by people. These 28 are the only people who have the right to write legislation. What makes them unpopular, is that these people, who the general public didn’t vote for try to impose their will on elected governments of E.U countries.

Now let me return to my original topic, about why people wouldn’t like the euro, and a borderless Europe. Firstly, the euro only benefits countries in the north of Europe, such as Germany, as it is valued very high (higher than the U.S Dollar). This high value stops economic growth in countries in the south of Europe, such as Greece and Italy, which in turn causes massive unemployment.

Next, on to the second problem, a borderless Europe. Most tourists like the idea of not having to stop at a border-crossing between France and Italy, but the problem with that is, that not just good people can freely cross borders, but so can bad people. The best example is the terrorist who committed the truck attack in December 2016 in Berlin. After running away from Germany he went through four countries, remaining undetected, something that would have been impossible if there had been border controls.

I hope that at least gives you an idea of why the E.U is despised by many.