A new challenge for Europe: The far-right in Germany and France is gaining strength. It is threatening democracy, the future of the European integration process and the strategic cohesion of the continent. Stabilising the political centre of Europe is now a top priority.
The upsurge of far-right movements and parties in Europe is not a mere cyclical fluctuation. Rather, it is the expression of several structural problems that have been building up over the last decade. The financial and economic instability; the unbalanced recovery; the high level of migration; the lack of integration of immigrants; and the growing distrust of established elites have all contributed to the growth of populist movements. These new political forces portray themselves as the only ones able to defend the sovereignty of their nations and the identity of their peoples from the threat of democracy and from supranational governance in decline.
This internal challenge to the EU is first of all a German problem. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) has become the second most popular party in Germany. This is not only the result of a growing polarisation of the German population with respect to the issue of migration, but also to a large extent the expression of several deep-seated structural problems in German society. A whole series of regions have been left behind by globalisation and domestic reforms. The weakness of the centrist consensus in Germany poses a danger to the country’s democratic system and could have a destabilising effect. This in turn would have a highly negative impact on the ability of the EU to function as a cohesive organisation and to implement its policies.
Similarly in France, support for the Rassemblement National has hardened of late, and the party has gone to some lengths to soft pedal its more radical elements in order to project a more acceptable image to the wider electorate. However, there is little doubt that the party has continued to harbour a hard-line, indeed far-right, view of the world in which elements of nationalism, racism, and xenophobia are deeply ingrained. To this end, in many parts of France, elements of the far right view the consequences of globalisation and European integration with considerable suspicion and it is not unusual for them to blame a variety of ills affecting the country, including economic inequality, unemployment, lack of security, and a range of other anxieties affecting the wider community, on immigration and the impact that new-comers have on French society. In short, for far right elements in France, there are a growing number of Europeans who believe that the only way to protect their interests and preserve their identity is through the reassertion of nationalism, which in turn explains the growing fear and concern that the far right could make a breakthrough in elections and, as a result, fundamentally alter the nature of the European project and undermine the Franco-German axis that has played such a dominant role in promoting integration across the continent.
These changes create problems that extend far beyond the individual states where far-right parties have gained ground. The policy challenges faced by the EU on issues such as migration, climate change and security are already considerable. A deterioration of democracy in individual member states would increase these challenges still further. Above all, however, it would signal the gradual erosion of the democratic norms that are the very foundation of the European project.
This is a difficult task for governments, as they are under pressure to address problems that they themselves have failed to solve in the past. Moreover, governments have to prevent other problems from arising that might be created by their attempts to solve current problems. As long as such problems are not solved, sections of the population will continue to be attracted by populist parties who promise quick solutions and assign blame for a country’s problems to an easily identifiable group of people, whether this be immigrants, a particular religion, or members of another country. The European Union also has to do a better job of preventing democratic backsliding in member states and of involving citizens more in European matters and of explaining to them the advantages of integration as opposed to viewing the EU as a bureaucratic construct that is of no concern to them.
Several actions will be required to prevent the continued rise of the far right. On the national level, the efforts of governments to promote economic inclusion, to develop the regions and to foster greater social cohesion will need to be stepped up. Additionally, an effort must be made to protect the independence of the judiciary and to ensure that the media remains pluralistic and free. In this context, all democratic institutions must be protected against attempts to undermine them. At the European level, efforts must be made to increase citizen participation in and to better explain the benefits that integration brings to its citizens. This requires more than the effective management of migration, greater transparency in decision-making processes and visible solidarity with member states in times of crisis. The only people who can take on this challenge are political leaders who are able to offer a positive vision for the future and are able to present a positive view of European identity, one that is not in conflict with the identities of individual member states and which is able to be nurtured by them. To counter the fearful and pessimistic views of the far right, civil society, schools and a free media must work together to foster and to promote a positive view of democracy.
We want to stress that strong leadership at the national level is also important in order to overcome the challenges of our time and to give new life to democracy and the values of the European integration process. The leaders of the European countries must present European integration in a positive way as an opportunity for development and as protection, and not as something which restricts and undermines the individual states and their citizens. To win back the trust of the European citizens in democracy and European integration, it is above all necessary that European integration is managed in a competent, fair and democratic way, and that it is positively presented to the citizens with corresponding language and content, and not in a negative way with fear-motivated content which imitates the far-right populist way of tackling things.
The far-right’s rise to power in Germany and France is not merely a domestic affair; it has the potential to destabilise the entire European project. The challenge to democracy posed by these developments must therefore be treated with the same seriousness as an external threat to Europe’s future depends on its ability to cope with the structural causes of the current discontent and to reaffirm the basic values of democracy. If it fails to do so, the political centre of the continent will become its most dangerous fault line.
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Simon Hutagalung
Simon Hutagalung is a retired Indonesian Foreign Ministry diplomat and received his Master’s degree in Political Science and Comparative Politics from the City University of New York. He writes opinion pieces for Europeantimes and all opinions expressed in his article are his own.
