If EU Fails to Deal With 'Shock of Brexit' Germany May be Next to Leave

If the European Union fails to work out a new integration policy, countries like Germany and France risk leaving the bloc, a French journalist wrote.

If Britain votes for leaving the EU at its referendum on June 23 this "historic shock" would affect the whole bloc.

"Francois Hollande and Angela Merkel would only confine themselves to loud statements. European Central Bank head Mario Draghi would say the bank will do everything possible to save the eurozone. Brussels would hold an emergency summit and once again reaffirm its integration policy," Eric Le Boucher wrote in an article for Slate.fr.

However, such a response would be desperately insufficient because neither Brussels nor EU members would be able to explain the result of the vote, he added.

The author analyzed arguments the euro-sceptics and their opponents have exploited in Britain. According to him, opponents of Brexit are more reasonable, especially in their assessments of the consequences of Britain leaving the EU.

At the same time, their intellectual rhetoric has not reached ordinary people. Brexit backers are exploiting such hot topics as migrants and "Britain losing control of its own future." This rhetoric is much less sophisticated but it is working, the journalist pointed out.

"Those who want Britain to stay in the EU cannot find counterarguments. Their words about common tax measures and a coordinated migrant policy are weaker that the populist criticism of the European technocracy. Plans to democratize the EU are considered as jokes," the article read.

According to the author, the upcoming vote and populist rhetoric contrast with the model European countries adhered after World War II. Then, Europe was a zone of concord and liberal internationalism, in both political and economic terms.

"The current global challenges require regional and global efforts. Any attempts of isolation make no sense. Today, Europe is more important than ever," the article read.

"This is all true. But those arguments cannot reach to an ordinary worker. Current visions of a united Europe are vague and too theoretical. They ignore people’s needs," the author underscored.

According to the article, the European post-war integration model has been abandoned in favor of the intergovernmental scheme according to which nations pursue their interests, paying no regard to the European Commission.

"National interests brought the European spirit into decay. Thus, ordinary people don’t like the European Union," the journalist wrote.

"In order to make further European integration possible, France and Germany should immediately abandon differences and elaborate a common approach. The only way to overcome people’s discontent is via politics. But if Paris and Berlin fails to reach a consensus Germany would be the next to leave the bloc," he concluded.