The Politicization of Europe: The Re-emergence of Nationalism and the Rise of Anti-European Sentiment

Abstract

Since the creation of the European Union, state leaders, politicians and elites monopolized decision-making and excluded the European citizens, nevertheless, the last two decades (2000-2020) the Politicization of Europe changed the process of the European integration from being purely governmental to a more salience and supranational. The act of Politicization emerged political awareness among Euro citizens meanwhile; the European Union witnessed also a rise in the nationalist sentiment and Euroscepticism in parallel with Politicization in which the public positive views on the EU diminished gradually especially in countries such as the United Kingdom and Germany. The research clarifies the impact of Politicization in the European Union, and analyzes the causes and consequences of the Brexit in the UK and other member states of the European Union especially in Germany. Many European countries have experienced a rise in Nationalism and Euroscepticism, mainly after the Eurozone and the refugee crises, which led to the emergence of right wing political parties driven by nationalist feeling, these parties opposed the policies of the EU such as immigration laws, which, appeared to be disadvantageous to the European public. The present work argues an increase in Nationalism and anti-Euro sentiment because of political, economic and cultural issues. For instance, UK’s and Germany’s economy flourished because of the Brexit and immigrants covered the shortage in the labor markets of many EU member states.