Unpopular Europe?

Following the Irish refusal of 12 June 2008 to ratify the Treaty of Lisbon modifying Community institutions, in this column Jean-François Drevet analyses the nature and evolution of popular opposition to the construction of Europe. He makes a distinction between two types of opposition: a structural opposition involving extreme-Right nationalists and extreme-Left anti-capitalists, and a more conjunctural opposition in the centre of the political spectrum, whose rejection of Europe has to do largely with the poor quality of information they receive or the hypocrisy of national political leaders, who are a little too ready to use Europe as a scapegoat. Unfortunately, Europe’s unpopularity may well persist or even grow, says Jean-François Drevet. In fact, without a more reliable, educative output of information, closer Union can be achieved only by disregarding public opinion.