European Union: Mis-selling Europe
The European integration project has been grossly mis-sold – not by its populist opponents but by pro-European elites. Politicians have created a long list of expectations – none of which has been met. Now voters are wondering why Europe has not solved unemployment, why their economies are not hyper-competitive, and why enlargement has been so difficult and expensive. They do not understand that Europe cannot assert itself coherently and consistently on the world stage and they worry about why European institutions, legislation, and particularly constitutional reforms do not feel closer to the people.