There is no denying that the European Union has lost some of its popularity among its citizens and especially the younger ones. In addition to decreasing voters’ turnout and results from public opinion surveys, the Brexit is a clear indication that the attractiveness quotient of the EU has gone down in the recent years.

A Paradox or a Truth?

The EU paradox is often defined as dwindling popularity of the EU in spite of tremendous contributions it made for the benefit of its citizens and businesses through its policies.

Indeed this fact on the EU contribution has never been denied on two aspects: “The free movement of people, goods and services within the EU” (56% of the total answers, +1 percentage point since autumn 2015) and “peace among the Member States of the EU” (55%, -1) are still seen by Europeans as the two most positive results of the EU (Source: EU public opinion survey).

However in the own words of the president of the European Commission Jean-Claude Junker in 2016 the EU is respected relatively less because it is interfering in too many domains of private lives of people and in too many domains where members states are better placed at taking action (Source: Telegraph). In short the EU may not be respecting the Principle of subsidiarity as much as it should be.

Changing perception

In reality bringing peace to a vast region, which was marred by the conflicts throughout the human history, is a great achievement in itself that the younger generation of the EU citizens is not able to appreciate enough and has taken for granted in the recent years. The opportunities that have come from the free movement of people, goods, services and money are fabulous but understated.

The EU paradox is possibly spawned from following events, values and perceptions:

1. Pluralism, Multiculturalism and cosmopolitism: The core value of the EU, also signified in its motto of “Unity in Diversity”, is a multicultural society. This is encouraged through equal rights for all European citizens irrespective of their country of origin. However due to recent refugee crisis and increased internal migration some societies have felt threatened. Not everyone seems to be ready for the idea of one Europe yet. This is giving rise to right populist parties (e.g. UKIP in the UK, AfD in Germany, PVV in the Netherlands etc.) in different member states, flaring the emotions of people in those countries.

2. Power imbalance: There is a strong perception that few countries by virtue of the size of their economy run the show in the EU (e.g. Germany and France). This also creates a perception that these countries unduly push the policies on some countries in distress (e.g. austerities measures in Greece)

3. Lack of Transparency, Complex structures and functioning: The EU is a complex machinery and it is not very easy to understand its functioning. This creates a perception that the EU is non democratic and run by Bureaucrats. There is also a perception that a lot of decision making in the EU happens behind the closed doors and is very informal. This leads to public opinion that the EU is not democratic enough. A recent example is TTIP agreement which has generated a lot of bad press for the EU. It is perceived that the EU is too eager to push through the agreement and without sufficient consultation with civil society and consumer rights groups.

4. Shared Competencies: The Principle of Subsidiarity, although creates a structure that helps in functioning of the EU, also leaves a lot of questions unanswered in case of shared competencies. It is not uncommon that national politicians blame the EU in such instances

5. Non visible value: The economic value derived from the EU policies are not completely visible to general public or not advertised enough. Governments at national level are quick to take credit for the implementation.

6. The EU Myths: There are hosts of myths about the EU circulating around the world. These range from over regulation, overstepping authority to meddling in the day to day working of the people etc. (some mentioned in this article). Although barely believable, the new social media channels have made is easy to circulate these myths among the citizens

7. Budget contributions: There are very few direct revenue sources for the EU. For most of its budgetary needs the EU relies on the contribution from Member states. Each member state makes a contribution based on the relative size of its economy. There is sometimes discontent within the citizens of the member states making bigger contributions that the proportional benefits are not derived by their county.

8. Loss of jobs for the local population: The free movement of goods, services and people is one of the most important contribution of the EU in creating a conducive business environment, however the free movement of workforce is not seen in a positive light by a lot of people as they fear loss of jobs for local population. This comes from the fact that the prosperity achieved at individual level from the EU policies is extremely hard to quantify.

Overall it seems there is a problem of perception then reality. However it is also true that the EU institutional structure is still evolving and is a work in progress with more and more competencies added every year. The EU needs to reach out to its citizens to vanish their fears. Although procedures are in place there is need to make them easier so that more general public could be involved in decision making in the EU.

image courtesy bbc