The EU is in ‘barbieland’ and becoming more xenophobic, new report warns

The European Union is in a ‘Barbieland’, presenting itself as a model of harmony and unity while beneath the surface several tensions threaten the unity of the bloc. At least, that’s the verdict of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) in a new report.

Likewise, the report, collated by ECFR Senior Policy Fellow, Pavel Zerka, signals that the European Union’s perception of itself as a progressive union of nations, brought together by Enlightenment ideals, ignores a lack of participation by several groups and a worrying drift towards xenophobia.
Blind spots
The report proceeds to identify three key ‘blind spots’ for the EU in terms of its perception of itself and its stability.
The first is the EU’s ‘whiteness’. The report singles out the lack of diversity on candidate lists for the European Parliament, with less than 20 non-white candidates ultimately being elected in June’s European elections.
As the report states: “Not only did the candidate lists in the European Parliament election fail to reflect the diverse character of European society, but anti-immigration discourse also flourished in the campaigns in most member states.
“For many non-white or Muslim Europeans, this would have exacerbated existing worries, including about discrimination after Hamas’s attack on Israel in October 2023.”
Consequently, Europeans from a non-white or migrant background may have felt themselves disconnected from the democratic process.
READ MORE: European elections: What happens next in Brussels after shock results?
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Second, the report focused on a lack of enthusiasm – and voter turnout – throughout central and eastern Europe in the recent elections.
The report links this to an increase in Eurosceptic attitudes and, consequently, political parties who seize upon this sentiment.
It circles back to a perception of inherent European whiteness, continuing: “The public debate in several central and eastern European countries suggests an ‘ethnic’ understanding of Europeanness is broadly accepted – not just among the far-right, but also within the political mainstream.”
Finally, the report identifies a disconnection among young people, with the 18 – 29 age group underrepresented in voter turnout for the recent elections.
While the report hesitates in describing this as a trend, it does identify this as an area of concern.
“It would be premature to interpret (voting data) as a demonstration of a growing anti-European, xenophobic, or illiberal sentiment among the European youth.”
“To the contrary, public opinion surveys (…) consistently show that, in most of the EU’s 27 member states, young people are, and continue to be, more pro-European and more socially tolerant than their parents and grandparents.”
“Yet this does not appear to motivate them to vote in European Parliament elections, nor particularly for mainstream parties.”
READ MORE: What we learned from the European elections across Europe
The war in Gaza was identified as a complicating factor in relation to all three blind spots, with perceived lines being drawn between Muslim and non-white Europeans, and growing xenophobia and conservatism in central and Eastern Europe.
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Back to reality
To emerge fully from EU’s ‘Barbieland’, the ECFR report makes three distinct recommendations.
Chiefly, the EU needs to make being a member worthwhile, with barriers to participation being lowered.
In regards to youth participation, the report even floats the idea of ‘youth quotas’ for candidate lists.
Alongside increasing participation, the report concludes that efforts need to made made to shift away from the EU’s perceived ‘whiteness’ – or at least moving towards an ethnic perception of being European.
As the report states, it is: “urgent for pro-Europeans to resist the short-term electoral or strategic temptation of staying quiet about the ‘ethnic’ conception of Europeanness, and instead to unambiguously oppose and reject it.”
“That will often also entail confronting their own voters on issues of migration and diversity.”
Finally, the report insists that Europe’s leaders need to move towards a more ‘civic’ model of what it means to be European, and this means listening to – and responding – to concerns about immigration.
It concludes: “This requires enacting policy that deals with irregular migration and ensures the control of borders in a law-abiding way without closing the EU completely to newcomers.”
READ MORE: ‘Shift to the right’: How European nations are tightening migration policies
A full version of the report, including methodology and data from all member states of the EU, can be found here.

#Politics
#European Union
#2024 European elections

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The report, published on Tuesday by the ECFR, uses Greta Gerwig’s 2023 film. ‘Barbie’ as a metaphor for the current state of the EU.
‘Barbieland’
In the film, having left ‘Barbieland’, the main character finds that her perception of herself varies markedly from others she encounters in the real world – some characters vocally critiquing her positioning as a feminist icon.
Likewise, the report, collated by ECFR Senior Policy Fellow, Pavel Zerka, signals that the European Union’s perception of itself as a progressive union of nations, brought together by Enlightenment ideals, ignores a lack of participation by several groups and a worrying drift towards xenophobia.
Blind spots
The report proceeds to identify three key ‘blind spots’ for the EU in terms of its perception of itself and its stability.
The first is the EU’s ‘whiteness’. The report singles out the lack of diversity on candidate lists for the European Parliament, with less than 20 non-white candidates ultimately being elected in June’s European elections.
As the report states: “Not only did the candidate lists in the European Parliament election fail to reflect the diverse character of European society, but anti-immigration discourse also flourished in the campaigns in most member states.
“For many non-white or Muslim Europeans, this would have exacerbated existing worries, including about discrimination after Hamas’s attack on Israel in October 2023.”
Consequently, Europeans from a non-white or migrant background may have felt themselves disconnected from the democratic process.
READ MORE: European elections: What happens next in Brussels after shock results?
Second, the report focused on a lack of enthusiasm – and voter turnout – throughout central and eastern Europe in the recent elections.
The report links this to an increase in Eurosceptic attitudes and, consequently, political parties who seize upon this sentiment.
It circles back to a perception of inherent European whiteness, continuing: “The public debate in several central and eastern European countries suggests an ‘ethnic’ understanding of Europeanness is broadly accepted – not just among the far-right, but also within the political mainstream.”
Finally, the report identifies a disconnection among young people, with the 18 – 29 age group underrepresented in voter turnout for the recent elections.
While the report hesitates in describing this as a trend, it does identify this as an area of concern.
“It would be premature to interpret (voting data) as a demonstration of a growing anti-European, xenophobic, or illiberal sentiment among the European youth.”
“To the contrary, public opinion surveys (…) consistently show that, in most of the EU’s 27 member states, young people are, and continue to be, more pro-European and more socially tolerant than their parents and grandparents.”
“Yet this does not appear to motivate them to vote in European Parliament elections, nor particularly for mainstream parties.”
READ MORE: What we learned from the European elections across Europe
The war in Gaza was identified as a complicating factor in relation to all three blind spots, with perceived lines being drawn between Muslim and non-white Europeans, and growing xenophobia and conservatism in central and Eastern Europe.
Back to reality
To emerge fully from EU’s ‘Barbieland’, the ECFR report makes three distinct recommendations.
Chiefly, the EU needs to make being a member worthwhile, with barriers to participation being lowered.
In regards to youth participation, the report even floats the idea of ‘youth quotas’ for candidate lists.
Alongside increasing participation, the report concludes that efforts need to made made to shift away from the EU’s perceived ‘whiteness’ – or at least moving towards an ethnic perception of being European.
As the report states, it is: “urgent for pro-Europeans to resist the short-term electoral or strategic temptation of staying quiet about the ‘ethnic’ conception of Europeanness, and instead to unambiguously oppose and reject it.”
“That will often also entail confronting their own voters on issues of migration and diversity.”
Finally, the report insists that Europe’s leaders need to move towards a more ‘civic’ model of what it means to be European, and this means listening to – and responding – to concerns about immigration.
It concludes: “This requires enacting policy that deals with irregular migration and ensures the control of borders in a law-abiding way without closing the EU completely to newcomers.”
READ MORE: ‘Shift to the right’: How European nations are tightening migration policies
A full version of the report, including methodology and data from all member states of the EU, can be found here.

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