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Europe: Heading for a Fight

Jamie Dettmer

   Eurocratsadmit they are breathing a sigh of relief that Britain is out
   of the European Union. If it had still been a member, they would face
   an even trickier prospect of persuading the fractious bloc to agree a
   politically ambitious pandemic economic recovery planto lift flagging
   economic fortunes.

   Even without Britain, a proposal that would see $850 billion of grants
   and loans being splashed around is facing strong resistance from some
   north and central European states.

   The EU is heading for yet another fight, one that may well set the bloc
   on the path of closer political and fiscal union but risks stirring up
   a renewed populist backlash as disruptive as the one spawned by the
   2015 migration crisis.

   Jacques Delors,aformer European Commission president, haswarned that
   lack of EU solidarity poses"a mortal danger to the European Union."

   The European Union has weathered crisis before -- from the eurozone
   bailouts after the 2008 global financial crash to the unruly migration
   crisis and an ill-tempered Brexit, but some fear the coronavirus could
   be even more destructive as it sets neighbor against neighbor.

   Italy, a flashpoint

   It is not often that the likes of Nigel Farage, Britain's
   arch-Brexiter, and the pro-EU philanthropist George Soros, agree, but
   last month they did with both arguing that the pandemic and its
   political and economic impact risks breaking up the bloc with public
   opinion towards the EU turning increasingly sour in southern European
   countries.

   In an interview with the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, Soros said:"I am
   particularly concerned about Italy. What would be left of Europe
   without Italy? Italy used to be the most pro-European country."

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