With Britons set to go to the polls in June, there are increasing signs the UK’s referendum is paving the way for other European countries to question their own relationship with Brussels. It comes after calls for Germany to have their own EU referendum in the aftermath of the migrant crisis. In a fresh blow to the EU, 53 per cent of the French voted in favour of holding a UK-style referendum on the country’s membership.
Such a response from one of the EU’s founder members will undoubtedly ruffle feathers in Brussels. Front National (FN) leader Marine Le Pen welcomed the poll results in a recent blog post, saying French demands for a referendum were “extremely encouraging”. A quarter (25 per cent) of French people also want to see an end of free movement throughout Europe after the EU’s Schengen zone was heavily criticised in the aftermath of the Paris attacks.
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But France is not the first European country where voters are demanding their own chance to leave the EU, with both the Netherlands and the Czech Republic saying they want to follow Britain in holding an in-out referendum. In a Dutch poll, 53 per cent supported an in-out vote, while the Czech prime minister Bohuslav Sobotka warned a "Czexit" could follow if Britons choose to leave the EU in June. Anand Menon, a professor of European politics at King’s College, said: “The British referendum is a laboratory for other referendums in Europe.
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Dr Lees told Express.co.uk: “A referendum in France is an absolute possibility. Certainly, if Britain votes to leave the EU in June, I think France will be under increasing pressure to have a referendum. Dr Lees added: “After Britain’s negotiations with the EU, it is only natural for France to look to the UK and say: ‘We contribute more to Europe than the UK does, so why can’t we negotiate?"
Well gang. It looks like the European experiment may finally be coming to a close. This has been a long time coming, given the long and storied tradition of European countries hating eachother's guts. From an American perspective, I'm happy to see the EU go. We already have one united states, we don't need another. And with the Eurozone centralized bank, Euro currency, free movement, and talk of a European army, it really honest to god does seem like the European governments are moving towards one Europe, and up until this week, have been showing no signs of slowing down.
Here's to preserving culture, NSG.
