Austria just
held a vote on the EU – Italy did no such thing, by Guy Vershofstadt, 12/5/16
Italy’s referendum might well have been one of the biggest
smoke screens in modern Italian politics. Many Eurosceptics have wrongly
portrayed the vote as a plebiscite on Europe. What was presented as a noble
institutional reform became a vote of confidence in the Italian government and
the Prime Minister Matteo Renzi himself. In fact, it was nothing more
than an all-too-familiar rejection of the Italian political establishment.
Renzi’s defeat was written in the stars;
a sitting government linking its fate to a referendum almost always ends in
tears. The historical examples are abundant.
The Dutch and French referendums of 2005 on the European
constitution were successfully hijacked by opposition parties, who turned them
into a plebiscite on the government of the day. However, the example that best
explains Renzi’s defeat is the 1969 referendum in France called by Charles de
Gaulle.
Italy’s
referendum result is not another Brexit or Trump, by Luigi Scazzieri
The
similarities are striking. Both votes proposed a drastic diminishing of the
senate’s role and both of them wanted to change the relationship between
regional and central government. Just like Renzi, De Gaulle personalized the
referendum by announcing he would step down if the French voted “no”. More than
52% did so. The hero of the second world war had failed to understand that the
France of the “deadlocked 1950s” had been replaced by the one of May ’68.
Matteo Renzi was equally blind in not recognizing
that Italians are fed up with the country being run – or rather: mismanaged –
by the two old socialist and conservative groupings. In 2013, Renzi entered
national politics as a young lion promising change, but he proved to be nothing
more than a younger version of the old crocodile Silvio Berlusconi. He tried,
but failed, to hide the fact that the main goal of the referendum was to give
electoral bonuses to the two big parties and to punish political initiatives
outside the old party structures.
The
young crocodile struck a deal with the old one by trying to prevent new
political movements from flourishing, despite the fact this is exactly what
Italian voters crave: fresh blood in their out-of-date political system. The
way politics in Italy is organized has a real and devastating effect on
people’s lives. Youth unemployment in Italy is sky-high, yet the kids of
well-connected families get well-paid jobs. Pension reform is on hold, while
government officials give themselves very generous schemes. The list goes on.
It
is because of these core issues that Italians voted “no”. It was not a vote
against the European ideal, as some populists have tried to spin it. Italian
voters are fed up with the static division of power between the two big
groupings, who have mismanaged both Italy and Europe for decades.
The
result of the presidential election in Austria, meanwhile, was a victory against the
hard-right populism engulfing the west. It is telling that Arron Banks, a close
confidant of Nigel Farage and bankroller-in-chief of Ukip, yesterday tweeted after the result that “I suppose they
[the Austrian people] haven’t suffered enough rape and murder yet.” In one
tweet, the mask slipped and the ugly xenophobic, racist face of the populist
right was exposed for all to see.
It’s
telling that many in Norbert Hofer’s party actually blamed Farage’s
intervention for its defeat – after he went on US television to suggest that
Hofer would propose a referendum on EU membership if he won. Austrians remain
in favour of EU membership, with the latest polls suggesting 34% wish to leave the EU, down from 49% prior to the UK
referendum. As a result of the Brexit referendum, support for EU membership has
increased significantly across Europe. Did Europe’s Brexit backlash help defeat Hofer? Quite possibly.
Austria
defeated the far-right Norbert Hofer – finally, some hope for Europe, by Julia
Ebner
Of
course, this increase in support for EU membership must not be taken for
granted. Arguably, the EU remains one or two elections away from
disintegration. But the Austrian result shows that so-called “alt-right”
populist coup attempts can be defeated, even in the current climate. If we dare
to radically reform the EU, then the tide can be turned. The upcoming Brexit
negotiations offer the possibility to start this process.
If
the EU is to survive, people want to see that it is capable of producing results.
They want a convincing European stimulus package to end the economic crisis and
tackle the obscene youth unemployment plaguing so many European countries. They
want a sizable border and coast guard that can actively manage the refugee
crisis. Moreover, they want an EU that will intervene to manage globalization
so that it offers opportunities for everyone, not just the few. So long as
mainstream politicians continue to play party-political games with referendums,
instead of putting genuine radical reforms on the ballot paper, people will
continue to vote “no”.
Comments
The
European voters have been drinking the UN Kool Aid for decades. Until recently,
it looked like they were incapable of freeing themselves from EU abuse. The
Brexit and Trump votes have started political challengers thinking they could
take advantage of the Refugee boondoggle, but they’ve only started. It will take time to get European voters to
get angry enough to throw off their EU yoke. Those countries with higher
unemployment will exit first. European voters will need to be careful about
believing their government’s unemployment numbers.
Norb
Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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