Anti-democratic rules
The recent launch of a progressive organization in favour of EU membership should come as welcome development. This complements the 15 June conference in Greenwich (open to the public), “The Progressive Case for Staying in the European Union”, when MP Keir Starmer and the general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, Matt Wrack, will speak.
As part of the launch of Another Europe is Possible, Yanis Varoufakis wrote, “Brexit...would hasten the disintegration of the EU”. Whatever the likelihood of this outcome, another sinister consequence should capture our attention. The exit of Britain could contribute not to disintegration but a consolidation of authoritarian governance in the European Union. By “authoritarian” I mean regulations and rules that remove political, social and economic decisions from the electoral process at the national and EU levels.
The current anti-democratic tendencies in the European Union represent political developments over several decades. The global financial crisis accelerated these tendencies through the draconian “bailout packages” designed in Brussels. Ad hoc and non-legislative measures facilitated their implementation, most notoriously in Greece, but also with less negative media in Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain.
