The European institutions and their communications deficits

The European Union is experiencing a moment of profound crisis, one of the many since it was founded. Internally, the rise of populism is calling the pillars of the common project into question; externally, the new fronts that have opened up with the geopolitical and socioeconomic crisis of 2008 and the migrant crisis of 2015 are putting the European institutions’ ability to cope with the major issues of globalization to the test. After a period flush with such major achievements as the creation of the Eurozone (with its 19 countries and approximately 350 million inhabitants), the Schengen Area and the enlargement to 28 member states, the approval of the Lisbon Treaty (the EU’s first Constitution) and the creation of the European Central Bank, the process of integration has begun to show unmistakable signs of strain. Though there can be no doubt that these achievements have made the European project more concrete—fueling the expectations as well as the criticisms surrounding it—repeated onslaughts such as the 2008 financial meltdown, international terrorism and the recent migrant emergencies have probed the limits of what Europe’s institutions can take. Most recently, the threats besetting the Union have come to a head with Brexit, throwing the ongoing crisis into even sharper relief.