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EUROPEAN DISUNION: RETHINKING EU POLICY IN THE POST-MIGRATION ERA
Europe stands at a crossroads. The incarnation of the European Project first proposed by Jean Monet in the aftermath of a war that devastated an entire continent has been facing increasing challenges since the turn of the millennium. The initial momentum towards building a deeply inter-connected Europe as a means of securing lasting peace has brought us far – the European Union of today is the embodiment of a common European reality that would have been unimaginable a mere century ago. But demographic, economic and political challenges have brought to bear harsh questions about the Union and its future.
Multiculturalism has long been a point of contention in European political discourse. The concept was adopted as a policy, following examples such as Canada and Australia, by most Western-European states during the second half of the 20th century – primarily in order to address the demographic challenges faced by the war-weary continent. And while the idea of multiculturalism as a means of peaceful coexistence between multiple cultural traditions within a single jurisdiction lies at the very heart of the European Project, multiculturalism has fallen out of favor within the purview of policy, as well as public opinion in Europe. This was made clear both by statements made by prominent political figures such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron, as well as the rise of nationalist and anti-immigrant movements in European societies. Solidarity, another core tenet of the European Project, has suffered greatly at the same time. The refugee and migrant crisis that the EU has been facing since early 2015 has cast a bright spotlight on the numerous rifts between EU member states. Consequentially the EU has struggled to find a common voice and live up to its commitment to solidarity when it came to securing much needed assistance for those member states under direct pressure. Many states were thus left to fend for themselves in addressing the continuous flow of persons across its external borders, which only deepened the divides.
Yet the true challenge lies ahead – with over a million persons having claimed asylum in a EU member state in 2015, it is imperative to turn to the challenges that European societies will face in the coming decades. The appearance of so-called new minorities and right-wing anti-immigrant movements will have to be reconciled in the process of securing European social cohesion through solidarity – be it inside or outside the framework of multiculturalism. Europe has to find a way not only to accommodate all of these new arrivals – economically, culturally and politically – but to strengthen its own Union at the same time, bringing member states closer together through solidarity and preventing the growth of extremist movements within its borders as these processes take place.
In order to avert a looming crisis in the European political space, it is imperative that the heads of member states begin laying down a new set of guidelines for the European Union’s future. Their decision to return to the core values upon which the EU was originally envisioned, or to turn a new page and forge a novel set of ideals for a Europe of the 21st century, will critically impact the changing European identity in this new era of post-migration development.
Multiculturalism has long been a point of contention in European political discourse. The concept was adopted as a policy, following examples such as Canada and Australia, by most Western-European states during the second half of the 20th century – primarily in order to address the demographic challenges faced by the war-weary continent. And while the idea of multiculturalism as a means of peaceful coexistence between multiple cultural traditions within a single jurisdiction lies at the very heart of the European Project, multiculturalism has fallen out of favor within the purview of policy, as well as public opinion in Europe. This was made clear both by statements made by prominent political figures such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron, as well as the rise of nationalist and anti-immigrant movements in European societies. Solidarity, another core tenet of the European Project, has suffered greatly at the same time. The refugee and migrant crisis that the EU has been facing since early 2015 has cast a bright spotlight on the numerous rifts between EU member states. Consequentially the EU has struggled to find a common voice and live up to its commitment to solidarity when it came to securing much needed assistance for those member states under direct pressure. Many states were thus left to fend for themselves in addressing the continuous flow of persons across its external borders, which only deepened the divides.
Yet the true challenge lies ahead – with over a million persons having claimed asylum in a EU member state in 2015, it is imperative to turn to the challenges that European societies will face in the coming decades. The appearance of so-called new minorities and right-wing anti-immigrant movements will have to be reconciled in the process of securing European social cohesion through solidarity – be it inside or outside the framework of multiculturalism. Europe has to find a way not only to accommodate all of these new arrivals – economically, culturally and politically – but to strengthen its own Union at the same time, bringing member states closer together through solidarity and preventing the growth of extremist movements within its borders as these processes take place.
In order to avert a looming crisis in the European political space, it is imperative that the heads of member states begin laying down a new set of guidelines for the European Union’s future. Their decision to return to the core values upon which the EU was originally envisioned, or to turn a new page and forge a novel set of ideals for a Europe of the 21st century, will critically impact the changing European identity in this new era of post-migration development.