Emmanuel Macron’s intervention (Brexit reflects a crisis in Europe. But leaving is not the answer, Journal, 5 March) shows the paucity of debate in the UK and the consistent failure to articulate a progressive vision for Europe. Yet the very fact that he sought to write at all shows that there is a growing sense of impending political apocalypse at the very heart of all our democracies which is likely to result in sweeping gains for populists in the forthcoming European elections.

As Macron makes clear, Europe and the European Union are not the same thing – Europe is an idea and a spirit of collaboration which is essential to meet a series of challenges which are germane to all of us, individually, locally, nationally and internationally. The European Union, in contrast, is but one of a series of institutional and governance structures that can help to deliver on these challenges.

These challenges and concerns stretch far beyond the UK, whether centred on the need for transnational regulation of social media companies, which are implicated in the crisis of young people’s mental health in universities (Alarm at level of mental illness and distress among UK students, 5 March); or seen in shared frameworks for peace and security; or reflecting the escalating climate crisis, or the need for working together in relation to seeking solutions to income inequality.

To deliver on such collective vision requires collaboration and joint decision-taking on an unprecedented scale. As Macron makes clear, the collective spirit of Europe, which is far beyond the specifics of the European Union, has never been more essential.

Nick Robinson

Associate professor in politics and international studies, University of Leeds

• President Macron reveals the fatal flaw at the heart of the European Union in his opening three words. We are not “Citizens of Europe”. That would require a much closer democratic compact where those running Europe are genuinely accountable to its people. Rather, the European project is being driven by a close-knit, unelected oligarchy whose high-handed elitism is alienating so many and opening the doors to the nationalists. Messrs Juncker, Tusk et al would do far better to turn away from their dreams of a federalised superstate and return to the origins of the European Economic Community and its goal of peace through trade. “Consumers of Europe” is something we could all buy into.

Matthew Patten

Manningtree, Essex

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