Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

Examples of some of the discontent across the EU's empire

1. Strikes

Many countries have seen strikes by key workers. In some cases this is about money but in others it is about policies being pursued by governments. The UK has seen strikes too, but it is rarely reported that repeated railway and airline strikes have caused major disruption in countries such as Germany.

2. Protests

In the UK protests have mostly been in favour of the Palestinian cause and this is true in other European countries too. The large increase in Muslim populations is seen generally as the reason for this.

3. Anti-green sentiment

Last week in Poland saw a massive demonstration in that nation’s capital regarding the EU’s ‘Green Deal’. Farmers in particular are up in arms in other countries too, such as the Netherlands and France. The reasons differ but the EU has been forced to row back on the enforcement of its policies, which were never voted on by citizens.

The Netherlands government and others have been trying to force farmers to make large parts of farming land go ‘wild’ and to produce less meat, because of its alleged effect on ‘climate change’.

In Poland there are specific concerns about the importation of cheap Ukrainian foodstuffs after the EU Commission lifted tariffs. The border between the two countries has frequently been blockaded.

4. Differences over Russia, Ukraine and China

Any notion that the EU has an agreed Common Foreign Policy has been torn apart over Russia and China. Some EU countries continue to trade to a significant degree with Putin’s Russia and openly profess their closeness, for example Hungary.

With China, French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the Chinese dictator to the Elysee Palace last week and Xi-Jinping went on to a warm welcome in countries such as Slovakia.

5. The effects of mass immigration

There is increasing disquiet in a great many countries regarding the effect that many years of mass immigration has had for ordinary citizens. This is replicated in the UK, according to opinion polls.

In the UK this started under Tony Blair’s government, with ‘free movement’ from the EU. In the EU itself the problem became most acute under Angela Merkel’s German government, when she declared “Wir schauffen das” and in effect unilaterally opened the EU’s doors. In Germany now, hundreds of town mayors have said they simply can’t cope with the numbers.

6. Democratic unrest over feelings of not being listened to

All across the EU voters have been swinging to the right. In some countries this has resulted in right-wing governments. In others it’s a different story.

In the Netherlands, Geert Wilders’ right wing party clearly won that country’s election last year but he is still prevented from becoming Prime Minister. In Germany there are moves afoot to ban the right-wing ‘Alternative für Deutschland’ party from running at all, after it achieved domination in many state elections. The AfD is now more popular than the party of the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz.

In France Marine Le Pen is currently favourite to win the first round of voting in the next presidential elections.