Is the European Union Evolving or Failing?

Abstract

In recent years, the European Union (EU) has seen and grappled with a varied degree of crisis, which a few observers considered as proof of its vulnerability and at worst scenario - existential threat. As it is with every crisis, there are gainers and losers; there are those who benefit from the fallout and others who manage to turn vulnerability into opportunity and strength. The crisis surrounding the EU can be characterized along the latter context, particularly in the backdrop of rising European populism. The rise of contemporary European populism has raised many questions and generated debates. Based on its anti-EU rhetoric and growing public acceptability, populism is interpreted as EU's political nemesis. In the midst of rising European populism, the paper looks at the debates in which the EU is considered as a failing or failed project. It also explores the extent to which European populism impacts the European political landscape. The paper explores the notion of populism as an anti-EU movement, bent at dislodging and disintegrating the Union. It argues that the actions of the populist parties suggest otherwise; populist dramatization underscores EU's continuous evolution and transition instead of its disintegration.