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Gwendolyn Scott
Professor John ONeill
English 298
February 5th, 2016
First Essay for English 298: Question 5
The recent generations of children have grown up seeing the European Union (EU) as
something that kept the whole continent connected, something that represented strong ideals and
stability in the western sector. The European Union has stood as a uniting force in Europe for 17
years, but how long will their trembling ties hold? It is beginning to look like it will not be much
longer. The motto of the European Union, United in Diversity not only describes their original
composition but could also hint at their dissolution which could occur as early as this year. In
addition all of the crises facing the EU can be quantified into distinct separations between either
being divided North and South or by East and West. The reasons why the EU are as follows,
firstly the infamous debt crisis that seems to be in the news every day. Secondly, political fallout
as can be shown in Greeces new governance by communist parties and Portugal and Spains
reproduction of this left shift in their general elections last year. Thirdly, Britains recent threat to
exit the European Union as early as 2017 if their reform demands arent met. Finally it is most
important to acknowledge the refugee crisis and its immense stress put on the most powerful EU
member, Germany. All of these reasons are building a fire that could more than easily combust
into a quick and painful dissolution of the European Union.
The first crisis is that of debt, one that is split North and South, with the prosperous North
struggling to support the hopelessly lost Southern countries like Greece and Turkey. The debt
crisis is the most glaring issue with the European Union, it can be demonstrated most

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dramatically with the number 544.05 billion euros: the amount spent on bailing out the members
of the union (The European Union). The current data on Greece places the country with 323
billion euros in debt with 68.2 billion euros of that indebted to Germany and 60% of it owed to
the eurozone as a whole. This crisis is rooted in Greeces out of control deficit which has been
spiralling since they adopted a single currency in 2001. Starting with the global financial crisis of
2008, Greece was no longer able to pay back its loans and they began to borrow money from
other countries in the Eurozone in order to keep them afloat (The Greek Debt Crisis). This has
left Greece with a GDP ratio of 174% in last quarter of 2014. This borrowing has caused Greece
and all of the EU to feel the extreme impacts of a debt crisis. The crisis has raised
unemployment in Greece and the EU as a whole and has raised the debt of other EU countries-most notably it spread to Italy and Portugal because of their poor credit and public debt. It has
also, by way of the North and South split, been a part of the panic that led to many other
problems in the EU. For example the political fallout in Portugal and Spain and the Brexit
(which will both be covered in the following paragraphs) are reactions from the Southern portion
of the EU not being able to survive this crisis.
Political fallout is an issue that does not often grab the attention of the media, but
nevertheless it is a key issue in the overall crisis of the European Union. Since the fall of the
USSR in 1991, the European Union has more or less been preventing an authoritarian takeover in
Eastern Europe. Now the split in tensions is between North and South instead of East and West,
which is caused by the aforementioned debt crisis. In the Greece government there can be seen a
start of takeover by populist leaders as of the elections in September of last year. This shift to the
left is, of course, backed up by the Left-Bloc and the Communist Party and hopes for mass civil
disobedience (Syriza Defies the Polls). The people of Greece voted in reaction to the debt

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crisis previously discussed and they hope that this socialist government will be able to help. The
movement also follows a trend of anti-austerity, the southern states feel that the need for austerity
within their own country is a punishment being put upon them by the northern countries whom
they owe. This political trend has also been followed by the Portuguese shift to the left in their
general elections of last year in October and by the Spanish elections in December. Though this
shift can be seen as having good initial intentions of a need for change, it will leave their
respective countries at odds with their creditors in Belgium and Germany (notably to the north)
who had been collaborating with the conservative leaders that had previously been in charge of
their government. Germany, in particular, has been isolated by these election results as many
leaders have been attacking Angela Merkel--the Chancellor of Germany--personally for the
continuation of the economic crisis. This shift in political ideology will have grand impacts as
summed up by Charles Grant, director of the Center for European Reform,It has been an annus
horribilis, Mr. Grant said, noting that decades of European political stability built on strong
political parties were crumbling as upstart political forces like Podemos, a leftist movement that
finished third in Spain, challenge the old order. (Smale).
David Cameron, the conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, is proposing a
referendum that would have the UK leave the European Union. His plan is to propose reforms to
be done to the European Union and if the union accepts and applies the reforms then the UK will
stay a member, otherwise he will vote for an exit as soon as 2017. This so called Brexit would
have little to no effect in benefits for the individual economy for Britain because even if they
werent a member of the Union, they would still rely heavily on the EU for trade as can be seen
by the fact that 51.4 of Britains exports go to the Union. As the Economist stated When trying
to show how much Britain might gain from leaving the EU, they tot up all the costs of EU

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regulation, assert that there are no benefits from it and assume that, after Brexit, the whole lot
could be scrapped. (The Data Team). The impact the Brexit would most likely be more of a
final match in the bonfire that is the fall of the EU, it would represent a final attempt and failure
to reform a broken system. However, even though the Brexit is significant and dramatic, it is not
the most impactful and desperate crisis going on in Europe, when compared with the Syrian
refugee crisis.
The refugee crisis, the most covered crisis by the media that is occurring in Europe, was
caused by the Syrian civil war. The essential issue of East vs West politics is in response to the
Syrian civil war. As of September 2015, over 11.7 million Syrians have fled their homes in hopes
for safety and sanctuary. The most tragic part of this crisis is the 2,800 men, women, and children
who have died while trying to cross the mediterranean and enter Europe (Myre). This kind of
tragedy is unacceptable, Europe and the west as a whole should be accepting more refugees and
making it safer and easier for families to reach safety. This is just common human decency, the
need to help and protect the impoverished and endangered. Progress in this crisis has been has
been happening, but not fast enough and the burden is being carried by very few countries
whereas the majority of Europe is awash with xenophobia. Germany has felt the most impact
from the movement of the immigrants. As of November 2015 Germany has accepted 184,000
refugees and many Germans are not content taking on the refugee burden while the rest of
Europe--notably the eastern portion--stands by and accepts very small numbers (Migrant
Crisis). There has even been a recent movement to build a border wall, which scares not only
refugees but all members of the union (Reuters). Already the situation has been escalating to
extremes as seen from the Economist, Because Germany could not manage the influx of
asylum-seekers and migrants, [Merkel] reimposed controls along the border with Austria,

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accelerating an already galloping crisis. (Europe Starts Putting up Walls) This push for
border control shows that Germany is not the most accepting country in terms of diversity, which
is ironic and horrible for the refugees because they are the country currently taking in the largest
amount of refugees. It is possible that this drastic declaration of xenophobia from Germany and
other countries within the EU could be the final straw in the collapse of the union? Such a strong
statement and action symbolizes the lack of acceptance of diversity within the union and the non
compliance with the largest and arguably most important member of the union: Germany.
The fall of the European Union is something that is going to happen, whether it is this
year or in ten years. There is so much development in the crises that, it is hard not to believe that
it will happen much sooner than later. These crises in the union include: the debt crisis, the
political fallout in Greece, Portugal, and Spain, the possibility of Camerons Brexit from the
Union, and the Syrian refugee crisis. We can not be sure which crisis will be the one that defines
the dissolution of the EU but there are already so many issues that it is hard not to predict that the
next one will be the end. The European Unions motto, created with its creation in 1999 reads:
United in Diversity, it seems destiny that the fall of the union will most likely be known for the
division between North and South and East and West in cases that are rooted in hate and
economic panic between the countries of the European Union.

Works Cited
The Data Team. "A Background Guide to Brexit from the European Union." The
Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 15 Jan. 2016. Web. 25 Jan. 2016.
The European Union. Government Consolidated Gross Debt by Components Annual Data. EuroStat. Web. 1 Jan. 2016.

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This data set source is updated daily with data on the current statistics of the debt crisis. I
used the data up to the date accessed. If accessed at a later date, the additional data should
be acknowledged.
"Europe Starts Putting up Walls." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 19
Sept. 2015. Web. 01 Feb. 2016.
"The Greek Debt Crisis Story in Numbers." BBC News. 10 July 2015. Web. 25
Jan. 2016.
"Migrant Crisis: Migration to Europe Explained in Graphics." BBC News. BBC, 22
Dec. 2015. Web. 25 Jan. 2016.
Myre, Greg. "The Migrant Crisis, By The Numbers." NPR. National Public Radio, 8
Sept. 2015. Web. 25 Jan. 2016.
Reuters. "Merkel Ally Backs Rising Star's Plans for Tougher Border Controls." The
New York Times. The New York Times, 25 Jan. 2016. Web. 25 Jan. 2016.
Smale, Alison, and Andrew Higgins. "Election Results in Spain Are a Stinging
End to Europes Year." The New York Times. The New York Times, 22 Dec. 2015. Web.
25 Jan. 2016.
"Syriza Defies the Polls with Comfortable Re-election Win." The Economist. The
Economist Newspaper, 20 Sept. 2015. Web. 25 Jan. 2016.