EU Scream

Barry Eichengreen was an early skeptic about the prospects for monetary union in Europe.

Nowadays the eminent economic historian acknowledges the single currency is here to stay. But he says much more should done to prevent the return of austerity that was the price millions of Europeans paid for saving the single currency this decade. A failure to make further reforms, warns Eichengreen, who teaches at the University of California, Berkeley, could be cataclysmic for Europe.

“There is a link between high unemployment and social distress on the one hand and voting for extremist parties by and large on the right because that then is a way to effectively shift some of the blame for what people are experiencing toward foreigners,” he says. "It’s much too easy to look at the incidence of unemployment in Germany in the 1930s and draw a link with the rise of voting for National Socialism but there is something of a link there.”

Eichengreen spoke to EU Scream in Brussels where he was giving the academic lecture at an annual meeting of the Centre for European Policy Studies and presenting his latest book, The Populist Temptation, which he wrote with his family’s suffering at the hands of the Nazis in mind. “The fact that we see resurgent nationalism, xenophobia, antisemitism all alive in Europe today certainly resonates with history, and it resonates with my personal history,” he says.

Eichengreen also identifies the perception that Brussels policymakers are overreaching as part of the narrative nationalist populists use to discredit the European Union. Brussels, he says, would be wise to pull back and return more authority to member states in the area of fiscal oversight. That would mean effectively ditching rules that oblige Brussels to punish countries violating debt and deficit limits.

Eichengreen acknowledges such a pull back would rely on Germany creating a shared system to shore up European banks that run into trouble. Yet that could help reduce tensions between northern Europeans who see southern Europeans as profligate. “If you break the so-called diabolic loop between budget problems and banking problems, at that point I think it becomes safe to return control of fiscal policies to the member states,” says Eichengreen.

The International Monetary Fund also comes in for criticism as supine by failing to insist on easier loan conditions for Greece in 2010.

“I think what I find most extraordinary is the fact that the I.M.F. laid down and accepted the European institutions unwillingness to contemplate debt restructuring in Greece,” says Eichengreen. “That was a point I think where — had Strauss-Kahn not been running for the French presidency — the Fund might have behaved differently and that could have changed the course of history,” says Eichengreen, referring to the then-managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

Strauss-Kahn was running the Fund when it accepted a role in the bailout. By involving the Fund in the Greek debt drama, Strauss-Kahn raised his profile for his presidential bid. But that locked the Fund into an arrangement with Germany, which pushed for tough loan terms on Greece.

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“Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125” by Papalin is licensed under CC by 3.0. “Muscovite No. 9” is played by Lara Natale. 

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Heather Grabbe of the Open Society European Policy Institute says nationalist populists are closing the minds of Europeans to the values they have in common. She presents survey findings that could embolden centrists and moderates to drop their wishy-washy approach and confront creeping authoritarianism more directly. Look for the full set of reports here on Feb. 19. Soundous Boualam, a Moroccan working at the European Parliament, talks about dealing with prejudice, curbing stereotypes, and her project to give the unloved EU more of a human face. “Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125” by Papalin is licensed under CC by 3.0. “Stimmen im Kopf” by Hans Atom is licensed under CC BY-NC 3.0. “Muscovite No. 9” is played by Lara Natale. 

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Banners and slogans celebrating tolerance and equality make the European Quarter of Brussels look like a civil rights nirvana. The truth is more complicated. There is a critical lack of racial diversity in the institutions that run the European Union, and sexual harassment is a concern. Even before the MeToo movement exploded onto the global agenda, Jeanne Ponté, a young assistant at the European Parliament, kept a notebook documenting the harassment she and her peers experience. After Ponté talked about the notebook on French regional radio, her story was picked up by French national media and then internationally. Ponté speaks for the MeTooEP movement at the European Parliament and she explains why all candidates running in May’s EU elections should pledge to take an anti-harassment course and support reforms. Corinna Hörst is the co-founder of The Brussels Binder, a kind of Yellow Pages for female experts. It’s a refreshingly tangible push for equality in a city where much policy making remains male-dominated and where chauvinism — particularly among some German conservative lawmakers — runs deep. Hörst also is deputy director of the Brussels office of the German Marshall Fund of the United States where there's renewed urgency about preserving democracy and the rule of law as fractures within and among countries grow deeper. Hörst says such divisive times call out for a leader with the stature and skills of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Could Merkel become the first woman to fill one of the European Union's two top jobs? Joanna Maycock is executive director of the European Women’s Lobby, among the Top 100 Most Influential People in Gender Policy, and a fellow at the Political Science Department at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. She also has starred on the hilarious and hugely popular podcast The Guilty Feminist. Maycock reflects on the role satire has played in the feminist movement; why women are still very much second-class citizens in the European Union; and why efforts to promote women are being undermined by far-right forces including in Spain. Read her group's Manifesto for a Feminist Europe ahead of the May 2019 European elections and check out more from the dirndl-wearing duo Jogida: "Love Yodel! Hate Fascism!" For more on EU Scream please visit our website. “Muscovite No. 9” is played by Lara Natale. “Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125” by Papalin is licensed under CC by 3.0. “Yodellers and Fellators” by radiotimes is licensed under CC by 3.0.

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China, Donald Trump, and discontent after financial and debt crises that exploded last decade are buffeting trade. The European Union frequently finds itself at the center of these storms. Arancha Gonzalez, the chief of staff to Pascal Lamy when he led the World Trade Organization and a former trade spokesperson at the European Commision, makes a spirited defence of the benefits of trade. Gonzalez even sees trade recovering its lustre as greater numbers of "conscious consumers" demand higher environmental and labor standards. Reinhard Bütikofer, a member of the European Parliament and a major figure in the German Green Party, is more equivocal about the outlook. Bütikofer suggests that the most immediate threat to a multilateral future isn’t so much from Europe's homegrown nationalist populists but from the United States. He fully expects Donald Trump to go ahead and slap tariffs on Europe's car industry in defiance of Brussels and Berlin. Lorenzo Marsili has more fundamental problems with the trading system. Marsili helped to start the leftist DiEM25 political movement with Yanis Varoufakis, the former Greek finance minister who hectored Germany to reform the Eurozone. Marsili reimagines how the vast trade deal between Europe and Canada agreed two years ago would have been negotiated under the kind of leadership that DiEM25 is calling for. First, James and Tom talk pork pies, foie gras, and Welsh plums. For more on EU Scream please visit our website. "Muscovite No. 9" is played by Lara Natale. “Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125” by Papalin is licensed under CC by 3.0. The following are public domain: Sonata no. 17 in D minor "The Tempest," Op. 31 no. 2, by Ludwig van Beethoven; Flower of Scotland; The Hebrides, Op. 26 "Fingal's Cave," by Felix Mendelssohn.

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With Brexit looming, James and Tom bid good riddance to two British members of the European Parliament they like the least: Daniel Hannan, a Conservative with a maniacal focus on Brexit; and Janice Atkinson, an independent who wants to Make Europe Great Again and who helps lead the far-right group created by Marine Le Pen and Geert Wilders. Mujtaba Rahman, the Europe director for the Eurasia Group, lays out how nationalist populists still are poised to infiltrate democratic decision-making in Brussels and undermine it from within. Rahman correctly forecast that Europe's political leaders would save the euro currency union from collapse at the height of debt crisis in Greece. These days he foresees insurgents making significant gains in the upcoming European elections and cooperating in ways not seen before. That would create a "completely unprecedented" situation for the European Commission, he warns. We also meet two people who knew Paweł Adamowicz, the murdered mayor of Gdansk and a beacon of tolerance in Poland. At Democracy Drinks in Brussels, Roland Freudenstein, the policy director of the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies, and Martin Mycielski of the Open Dialogue Foundation, reflect on the violent consequences of hateful politics and on the way Polish state-run media hounds the opposition. For more on EU Scream please visit our website. "L.T.H. (AA's Refix)" by Abstract Audio is licensed under BY CC 3.0; "Muscovite No. 9" is played by Lara Natale; Nocturne in B flat minor, Op. 9 no. 1, by Frédéric Chopin and played by Olga Gurevich, is public domain.

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What came of French President Emmanuel Macron’s call for ordinary citizens to lead a European political renaissance? Well it happened. Sort of. Twenty-six other European Union member states minus the UK agreed to go along with the French idea. During the past year hundreds of consultations, dialogues and debates have been held across Europe. These events amount to a new and experimental approach to connecting citizens to Europe. But they also look a lot like a Tower of Babel, lacking a common format, branding and goals, because national and European authorities retained so much individual control. We talk to Corina Stratulat of the European Policy Centre and Laura Sullivan of WeMove.EU about a form of democracy that's only going work if authorities Let it Go. Don't miss Laura's tribute to Queen Elsa who, by relinquishing her gloves and tiara, gained more mastery over her powers. Surely there's a message for Europe. First, Tom and James talk acronyms and abbreviations — including those that designate organisations and institutions meant to open up Europe to citizens and to quell criticism from eurosceptic forces. "Signor, quell’infelice” from L' Orfeo by Claudio Monteverdi is public domain; "L.T.H. (AA's Refix)" by Abstract Audio is licensed under BY CC 3.0; "Muscovite No. 9" is played by Lara Natale.

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The far-right again sets the agenda in Europe and successfully pushes governments to oppose a UN pact on migration. Shame. An EU minister finally slaps down Italy’s Matteo Salvini for Nazi-style migrant-bashing. Respect. Karen Mets of Save the Children debunks claims by Lauren Southern, who boasts to half-a-million YouTube subscribers how she saved Europe from migrants. Campaigner Lyudmyla Kozlovska explains how far-right trolls sought to pass her off as Christine Blasey Ford. "Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125" by Papalin is licensed under CC BY 3.0. "They're coming" by Zapac is licensed under CC BY 3.0. "Muscovite No. 9" is played by Lara Natale. 

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Protecting the climate and ordinary working people is a delicate exercise. Look at the huge Yellow Vests protests in France where President Macron mishandled an environmental tax and the far-right exploited the discontent. Bas Eickhout, a Dutch Green lawmaker vying for a top job in Brussels, says smarter climate policies can avoid more burning cars, flying cobblestones and mass deployments of police. Eickhout also dings far-right lawmakers for hypocrisy over fossil fuels and wasting taxpayer money. First we play a round of There Are No Good Answers featuring the British far-right lawmaker who wrote a draft opinion for a European Parliament committee denying climate science. “Beethoven Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125” by Papalin is licensed under CC by 3.0. “Stimmen im Kopf” by Hans Atom is licensed under CC BY-NC 3.0. “Muscovite No. 9” is played by Lara Natale. 

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Citizen-focused movements and parties like DiEM25 and Volt Europa are looking for ways to challenge politics-as-usual. But are they a smart way to fight populism and shore up the European project? Colombe Cahen-Salvador, a one of Volt's three founders, explains why participatory budgets and software linking voters with representatives in the European Parliament are on her party's agenda. Tom says he likes Volt's optimism. He also says he's already given €25 to DiEM25. James warns of the dangers of direct democracy. Pelle Christy, an EU affairs expert from Denmark with a Eurosceptic past, says the new parties are going to have to make tough compromises if elected — or risk making Europe’s problems with populism worse. "Een Laaste Liedje" by Tres Tristes Tangos is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0. "Exotica" by Les Juanitos is licensed under CC BY 2.0 FR. "Muscovite No. 9" is played by Lara Natale.

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Tom interviews Proud Bear, the masters of political satire who are turning the logic of Brexit on its head. Lukas and Andrei – not their real names – masquerade as Russian military intelligence officers who helped swing the vote for Brexit. In reality, Proud Bear want to highlight the need for a full inquiry into suspected Russian meddling. Brexiteers promised to take back control from the EU. James talks with Professor Anu Bradford of Columbia Law School about why that may never happen. Hint: look at The Brussels Effect. First, Tom talks about how Leave.EU raised money to spread lies about Europe ahead of the Brexit vote. James contrasts that campaign with the EU's relatively ineffectual political messaging. 

"L.T.H. (AA's Refix)" by Abstract Audio is licensed under BY CC 3.0

"Muscovite No. 9" is played by Lara Natale

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