International

The fact that europhile politicians and opinion-makers cry shame about the SP's satirical campaign video on the fictional European Commissioner Hans Brusselmans, foaming at the mouth about populism and 'political porn', is not surprising. This always happens when hard-hitting criticisms are levelled at the European Union and the hoped for European Superstate. It happened during the referendum on the proposed European Constitution and again during the referendum on Ukraine. With this reflex the europhiles are denying that any alternative is possible. It's striking that there is so much anger and ballyhoo about our critique, while poverty in the European Union, for example, continues to be accepted. It's time for debate about what sort of European cooperation we want, cooperation in which Brussels is no longer the boss.

The 'populist rebellion' against the current European Union is often mentioned in the same breath as the fear of globalisation. The answer from the existing political elite, headed up by French president Emmanuel Macron, who in his own country is pushing through harsh neoliberal reforms, is that it is precisely the EU that can protect people from globalisation. This kind of prattle, however, can be consigned to the dustbin.