The EU has seemed stable in the face of Britain’s petulance. Yet across the continent, faith in its institutions is faltering I considered voting for Brexit. After the referendum was agreed, but before the campaigning had begun, I could have gone either way. My issue was democracy. I didn’t like the fact that the European parliament could not initiate legislation; that turnout for European parliamentary elections had fallen 30% since the first elections in 1979; the way countries that voted “the wrong way” on EU referendums were effectively instructed to vote again (Denmark 1992; Ireland 2001, 2008) and get it right; the fact that Greece’s resounding democratic rejection of the terms of its bailout (2015) was treated with such contempt. Related: Britain is still clueless about the EU’s motives in Brexit negotiations | Tom Kibasi Continue reading...
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