The European Union’s Double Crisis of Legitimacy
After two years of chaos and prevarication, the United Kingdom is finally leaving the European Union.
Back in 2016, some observers predicted that Brexit would prove the frailty of the EU. The leaders of the remaining 27 European countries would be unable to find a common negotiating position. Big corporations—like the extremely powerful German carmakers—would put enormous pressure on leading politicians to cave to British demands. Brexit would be a great success and would quickly inspire other countries to follow suit.
Today, it is obvious that these predictions were wide off the mark. Throughout its negotiations with London, the EU has been remarkably univocal. If the CEOs of BMW and Volkswagen exerted any pressure on Angela Merkel, she evidently ignored it.
