Eurobarometer fever

In Brussels I recently bumped into one of the creators of the illustrious Eurobarometer. One of these fresh, young, talented Europeans, the type present in abundance throughout the entire Europe neighbourhood in Brussels. I asked her man to woman why the Eurobarometer always happens to be so Europe-friendly. A little explanation. The Eurobarometer is the "Gallop poll" of Brussels. Under the auspices of the European Commission trends in public opinion in all EU member states are measured twice a year.

The results of the Eurobarometer play a big role. At vernissages in and around Brussels you are confronted with them at every turn. “You can claim that there is some disillusion with Europe in the member state the Netherlands, but the most recent Eurobarometer shows that 65 percent of the Dutch completely support the Europe 2020 strategy.” Huh?

I once joked that Charlemagne ran Europe with greater finesse than the eurocrats from their lofty heights in Brussels. They think one opinion poll is enough to gauge the support for their megalomaniac plans. There is plenty to say about Charlemagne, but he at least travelled through all the states of his empire and set up camp in different locations all the time.

After a couple of beers the woman from Brussels admitted that the Eurobarometer does entail some Europe-friendly massage. She and her five colleagues are presented with read-made questions by the various directorates-general of the European Commission, and “DG Communication” makes sure that the tone or voice of the presentation of the Eurobarometer is nicely europhile.

Barroso gallops on toward the great ideal

I immediately thought of that Eurobarometer when I cast my eyes upon the recent State of the Union Address of European Commission president José Manuel Barroso. This is the government statement of our uncrowned European government leader. When I saw his proposals I thought: either that man has been seized by a fit of overconfidence bordering on the insane, or his only source has been the Eurobarometer.

Only then could one see why Barroso, in the midst of the greatest crisis Europe has ever known, bangs the drum louder than ever for the formation of a European federation. You have to have some nerve to do that at a time when people are rightly disillusioned by the European Project – even if only because an entire generation of European youth is unemployed.

In his speech Barroso gallops on toward the great ideal of a post-national Europe. Nation states have to pretty much abolish themselves “it is the only way we will get the scale and efficiency we need to be a global player. It is the only way to safeguard our values, because it is also a matter of values in a changing world. Let's not be afraid of the words: we will need to move towards a federation of nation states.”

This Brussels wet dream is nothing less than a coup. There is no supporting base, either for a full-fledged European federation or for a European political union. Not on the part of the national political elites – just listen to the overwhelming silence in The Hague when it comes to the “view from Brussels”. Let alone that the population is in any way ready for this.

Brussels is abusing the euro crisis

True enough, people do not want a “Nexit” à la Wilders. There is no wish for the Netherlands to leave the EU. The recent elections showed that. Nevertheless, there is no support for the taciturn self-abolishment of the Netherlands either. Don't be alarmed but: the question “Dutch membership of the EU is a good thing” only received an affirmative answer from 44 percent of the Dutch in the last public opinion poll of the SCP.

How that percentage is divided is even more dramatic: 67 percent of those with a higher education support EU membership compared to 37 percent in the middle group and 26 percent among those with a lower education.

Barroso is playing an extremely dangerous game in his speech when he places “all pro-European forces” and “the nationalists and populists” diametrically across from each other. By doing so he is consciously committing a coup against people with medium- and lower-level education in Europe and he is turning the EU into a “minority project” for academics.

Brussels is abusing the euro crisis to push ahead with integration. What they are in fact doing is unleashing the greatest imaginable political backlash against the European Project. Long live Europe!