The European Union Is About to Crack | The Gateway Pundit | by Guest Contributor

Guest post by Drieu Godefridi

The European Union (EU) stands on the precipice of a transformative moment. What is occurring in Brussels has transcended a mere governance crisis; it is now an existential quandary. Radical environmental ideologies, an authoritarian tendency, stark East-West divisions, and rising public disdain suggest that the EU’s framework, crafted over the last five decades, may be unraveling amidst the undeniable pressures of contemporary reality.

1. A Disconnection Between Elite and Electorate

The architects of EU policy, including Ursula von der Leyen and a cadre of largely unrecognized commissioners, are not elected figures known to the average European citizen—yet their pervasive influence is acutely felt.

In the name of environmental sustainability, Brussels has unleashed a Green Deal that threatens the financial stability of the middle class, hampers agricultural productivity, and accelerates the deindustrialization of Europe. Consequently, energy costs are skyrocketing, leading to a wave of business closures. In contrast, nations like the United States and China are capitalizing on these challenges, fostering job growth and investment opportunities.

Figures like Spanish Commissioner Teresa Ribera, Executive Vice-President for a Clean, Just and Competitive Transition, epitomize this misalignment of priorities. Clinging to her convictions, Ribera advocates for an even tougher Green Deal despite the evident decline of European industrial sectors—all under the pretext of perpetually reducing CO₂ emissions.

Globally, interest in CO₂ mitigation has waned, as humanity historically demonstrates resilience toward climate variation. We aim for Martian colonization while we’re told we cannot accommodate a modest rise in global temperatures?

Rather than addressing the concerns of citizens—who seek stability, prosperity, and a secure future for their families—the EU resorts to censorship. It broadens regulations against so-called “disinformation,” intensifies monitoring of social networks, and silences dissenting opinions. As a novel twist, Commissioner Ribera has proposed a trade conflict with the United States—a reckless move for a continent already staggering under its own weight.

Never before has the chasm between EU bureaucracies and the populace been so pronounced.

2. The Dismantling of the Anti-Right Consensus

For years, European democracy has functioned under an unspoken pact: the centre-right (EPP) shuns alliances with right-wing groups, preferring to collaborate with the left and radical environmentalists. This approach—a cordon sanitaire imported from German and French political traditions—marginalizes democratic discourse. The left maintains ideological dominance within the Union, even in the wake of electoral defeats.

However, cracks in this facade are becoming evident.

In France, the exclusion of nationalist parties is proving untenable. In Germany, new coalitions erected to ostracize the AfD are struggling to garner support from a populace increasingly wary of their failing industrial base. The electoral tide in Brussels signals an undeniable shift: voters are increasingly gravitating towards the right, expressing discontent with prevailing European policies.

The EPP is now pressed to part ways with the left alliance and start responding to its constituents’ concerns—a pivot that has already begun to take root.

3. Eastern Europe Rejects Mass Immigration

Central and Eastern European nations—including Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and several Balkan states—are resisting the Western European model that champions mass immigration, erosion of national identities, and enforced multiculturalism.
These nations hold a firm stance against Islamization, the societal dependency on welfare systems for migrants, and the heavy toll of an imprudent migration policy. Their stance is not a fleeting reaction; it is profoundly cultural.

The East views the West as a fading mirage, corroded by post-colonial guilt and progressive narratives. To assume that Eastern Europeans will revise their stance amidst a backdrop of increasing Islamist tensions—especially when incidents, such as a recent drone attack on Belgium’s Prime Minister, loom large—is wishful thinking.

While parts of Western Europe, like Molenbeek and Brussels, already face significant Islamization, Central and Eastern Europe assert that such a fate will not befall them. This ideological schism poses a critical threat to the EU, as the leftist “elites” have deemed Islam central to their identity. Their utopian vision of multiculturalism is fueled by an animus toward Western civilization, driving the notion of substantial Muslim immigration.

4. A Conscience Awakens in Europe

The repercussions of the Green Deal, carbon taxes, and an intricate web of over 200,000 pages of European legislation have set the stage for economic turmoil across Europe.

While Americans face average heating bills of $100, Europeans find themselves paying upwards of $500, although the average American salary nearly eclipses that of their European counterparts by 2.5 times. It doesn’t require a financial guru to recognize this unsustainable trajectory—one that the European Commission seems blissfully unaware of. European households grapple with skyrocketing living costs, while farmers block roads and truckers rally in protest, finding themselves caught in a relentless cycle of hardship.

In this maelstrom, right-leaning parties are reaching electoral prominence across various European countries. The left— which has banked its future on immigration policies and radical social ideologies, often sponsored and inspired by American entities like Soros’ Open Society—faces an impending crisis of credibility.

The narrative is straightforward: when dignity is stripped away, people rise to reclaim it.

Conclusion: A Looming Breakdown?

The European Union, in its current iteration, appears to be racing toward irrelevance. Its descent may span months or stretch into years; the timeline remains uncertain.
The EU is essentially being undermined by an elite class that has abandoned belief in the populace, and by a populace that, in turn, has lost faith in its leaders.

The impending fracture of the EU is imminent.

The pressing question is not if, but rather when—and in what form—will the new European construct emerge.

Drieu Godefridi is a jurist (University Saint-Louis, University of Louvain), philosopher (University Saint-Louis, University of Louvain) and PhD in legal theory (Paris IV-Sorbonne). He is an entrepreneur, CEO of a European private education group and director of PAN Medias Group. He is the author of The Green Reich (2020).

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