Making France Great Again?

[Dill]

(04-22-2017, 02:44 PM)Bengalzona Wrote: A bit concerned at the odds that a "Frexit" supporter might win.

Hollo raised that issue too. Melenchon has said he wants to pull out of the EU. He's the candidate whose policies I like most, and I understand his worries about Germany.

But even he is sounding a little like Trump now. He doesn't say "France for the French" and he is for immigration--even from North Africa--but he does talk in nationalist terms and calls Germans "Teutons."

This is pushing me back towards he center. Since Brexit I am suddenly very interested in EU developments, but feel very under-informed about them. What little knowledge I have of the EU is fragmentary and haphazard, driven by personal interests.

Over the last decade I have been a fan of EU ventures like the Erasmus Program, which greatly increases foreign study among university students of member nations. I liked the European Research Council when it first appeared It looked like it was going to stimulate basic research. Now I am concerned though that it is pressuring universities to "standardize" education in ways that make it easily measurable for policy makers and grant makers. And the criterion for grants may sliding toward projects that immediately enhance economic growth.  Except for the latter point, and reading a few articles on the Greek debt crisis and Brexit,I have not thought much about the EU economy and how it is affecting member countries.

Also I see how the demographics of countries have changed with the open borders--e.g., so many Eastern Europeans in the UK and France.  And I understand complaints about Germans dominating smaller economies.  But I am concerned that pulling out of the EU--at least pulling out all at one go--may have terrible effects on other European economies which include blowback for the French, bad in the long term.  Bad for the US too.  I am concerned that the EU hostility may be driven primarily by the fact that so many "foreigners" are taking root in countries with stronger economies, European "nativism" and short-sighted populism.

I remember what traveling around Europe was like before the EU. Not bad, but more complicated than now. Passports at the borders and always changing money.  Restoring borders would inconvenience me, but my personal interests and preference are not a good standard for judging Brexits and Frexits.

I would like to hear from someone in the forum who has a better grasp of the pros and cons of EU membership for individual nations, and France in particular.  What might be the consequences for France, Europe, and the US if FRance pulls out of the EU?