The origins of the European Union lie in an attempt to solve the age-old problem of destructive German-French rivalry, which had drawn the old continent in numerous wars over the past hundred years or so, including the Franco-Prussian War, World War I and World War II. But time has marched on, and a much greater threat today is recrudescent Islam, now assaulting Europe in the guise of the “migrant” crisis.

So what if the EU falls apart?

The European Union is in danger of breaking apart unless France and Germany, in particular, work harder to stimulate growth and employment and heed citizens’ concerns, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said in the German capital on Thursday. Valls said the two countries, for decades the axis around which the EU revolved, had to help refocus the bloc to tackle an immigration crisis, a lack of solidarity between member states, Britain’s looming exit, and terrorism. “Europe is in danger of falling apart,” Valls said at an event organized by the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. “So Germany and France have a huge responsibility.” He said France must continue to open up its economy, not least by cutting corporate taxation, while Germany and the EU as a whole must increase investment that would stimulate growth and job creation, as well as boosting defense.

Valls is one of the many reasons Marine Le Pen is likely to be the next president of la belle France: economic issues are not in the forefront of anyone’s mind at the moment, not with continued Muslim “immigration” — invasion is the proper term — and its attendant rape epidemics, crime, filth, disease, inbreeding and cultural hostility.

Further, Europe cannot solve its economic problems without factoring in just how much Mutti Merkel’s folly is going to cost in the long run.

Immigration was one of the main drivers of Britons’ vote to leave the EU, and Valls said the bloc, which more than a million migrants entered last year, had to regain control of its borders. He said the Brexit vote and Donald Trump’s election victory showed how important it was to listen to angry citizens, and that politicians scared of making decisions were opening the door to populists and demagogues. In France, opinion polls suggest that the far-right, anti-EU, anti-immigration National Front leader Marine Le Pen will win the first round of the presidential election next April, before losing the runoff. But Valls said Trump’s victory had boosted the chance of an outright Le Pen victory: “What has changed in the world and Europe since Nov. 8 is that it’s possible.”

Excellent.