How can the European Union be more meaningful for its citizens?
Andreas Kaplan, ESCP Europe Can the EU still portray itself as a strong reliable institution for all Europeans? The UK’s 2017 “Brexit” vote and recent events in Catalonia have raised questions about the role and value of the European Union. Another symptom was the alarmingly weak participation in the most recent European parliament elections, in 2014. The lack of interest is all the more worrisome when remembering that the initial idea of the EU’s founders was to bring and maintain peace and prosperity to its citizens, matters of no small importance. However, over time the conversation turned from creating peace and prosperity to bureaucracy and bailouts enforced by national politicians and media who blame European institutions for their inefficiency and costly functioning. The EU appears to be in need of profound reform. What’s in it for the average citizen? Emmanuel Macron, France’s President, suggested several of such reforms , including the creation of a f...