There appears to be competing visions for the future of
the European Union [From Der Spiegel:
An Inside Look at the EU's Raging
Power Struggle]
“But there is more
at stake than just the treatment of Britain during the Brexit negotiations. The
more important question is how Europe will look 10 or 15 years from now -- the
question as to whether the project of an "ever closer union," as
optimistically formulated in the Treaty of Lisbon, will be continued. Or will
Europe pivot back toward the nation-state, possibly even with the return of
powers and competencies from Brussels to the governments of EU member states?
It is a power struggle
between two opposing camps, both of which see Brexit as an opportunity to
finally change Europe to conform to the vision they have long had for the bloc.
The protagonists of an institutionalized Europe are Commission President
Jean-Claude Juncker and Parliament President Martin Schulz. On the other side
stands the majority of Europe's heads of state and government, led by Angela
Merkel, who has created an alliance on this issue with those governments in
Eastern Europe with whom she was at such odds in the refugee crisis just a few
months ago.”
Related:
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Roger Cohen’s take on Brexit and the ‘European Dream’
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/28/opinion/britain-to-leave-europe-for-a-lie.htmlThe Economist on Brexit's Fallout
http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21701479-leaderless-and-divided-britain-has-its-first-taste-life-unmoored-europe-adrift