November 15, 2016

The catastrophe knocking on Europe’s door

editor:	Maria João Morais

“Another catastrophe must be prevented”, said European commissioner of Economic Affairs, Pierre Moscovici, after Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential elections.

The French representative’s statementshows the concern transcending the upper echelons of European politics, fearful of the possibility of the Trump phenomena reaching the old continent.

Facing an intense year of general elections in Europe, the triumph of the American magnate has rung many alarm bells. The first to congratulate the president-elect was Marine Le Pen, who continues to lead the polls for the upcoming French elections that take place next April. Germany, Austria and the Netherlands are other countries that will soon go to the polling booths, where far right parties threaten to achieve unprecedented results.

Nevertheless, Moscovici is part of the political European Establishment, which has managed to push plenty of voters towards right-wing radicalism. To avoid such parties gaining power across Europe, the EU should implement policy change. Often unfavourable to the majority of their populations, current austerity measures forced on member states serve corporate interests and contribute to raising anger levels which populist politicians feed off.

Having failed to produce a comprehensive post-Brexit strategy in response to the recent shock referendum, the EU must be more responsive to the Trumps victory, preventing the spread of authoritarian populism throughout Europe.