How the EU can resist the divisive influence of the far right

Thomas Laffitte on the threats facing the European Union and Giorgio Re on why the strongest defence must come from the democratic right and centre-right

Your editorial rightly highlights the European far right’s maturing plans for Brussels’ political machinery (The Guardian view on the far right’s plans for Brussels: doing the work of Xi, Putin and Trump, 27 October). Alongside these developments, the evolution of Euroscepticism itself deserves closer attention.

As I argued in a recent report from the Brussels Institute for Geopolitics, anti-EU politics may have entered a phase of “post-Euroscepticism”. The discourse remains, but the ambition to dismantle the union has increasingly given way to blocking the march towards an ever closer union while retaining the existing structure and exploiting it.

Ten years after Brexit, this shift reflects a deeper change in the global geopolitical order. With the return of great-power politics and the rise of geoeconomic rivalries, even radical nationalists may be reluctant to part with the great instrument of power that the EU has become. Giorgia Meloni’s unexpectedly pragmatic approach to EU cooperation is a prime example.

The EU’s institutional architecture offers some resilience. Its weak centre and dispersion of authority make it comparatively difficult for any one government to capture the entire polity. Yet this strength is also a weakness. Institutional divisions can translate into misalignment, dysfunction and, ultimately, decay. The EU will endure, but escalating nationalist rivalries risk compounding this tendency for inertia and the irrelevance that results.

This makes the negotiations over the next multi-annual financial framework (2028–34) particularly important. The EU must strengthen its competitiveness and strategic autonomy, while preserving the cohesion funds that remain one of its greatest success stories. Peripheral regions, where Euroscepticism has gained considerable ground, must not be forgotten.

The danger facing Europe is no longer confined the prospect of its dismantlement. It also lies in the erosion of its capacity to act at a time when the return of geopolitics makes collective European power increasingly necessary. Thomas Laffitte Research fellow, Brussels Institute for Geopolitics

I felt compelled to write this letter after reading your editorial. I believe my feelings are shared by millions of Europeans whose voices are too often overlooked in today’s political debate – Europeans who value the freedom to live, study, work, do business and access healthcare across borders. And who believe that our common future deserves greater ambition.

As an Italian, coming from one of the six founding countries of European integration, and as a committed liberal conservative, I see no contradiction between defending individual freedoms, free enterprise, national identities and a stronger EU. Quite the opposite: in a world increasingly shaped by competing superpowers, European sovereignty can only be meaningfully exercised together.

However, defending Europe also requires acknowledging its shortcomings. Excessive bureaucracy, fragmented decision-making, sluggish economic growth and inadequate coordination on immigration and defence have contributed to public frustration. These deserve serious political answers rather than being dismissed as expressions of Euroscepticism.

That’s why I also believe that the strongest defence against nationalism must come from Europe’s democratic right and centre-right. We need European institutions that concentrate on what we can achieve better together: defence, external borders, strategic infrastructure, research and foreign policy. Mainstream conservative parties must resist the temptation to imitate nationalist rhetoric. They should instead articulate a confident, patriotic and genuinely pro-European alternative.

Some of Europe’s founding fathers, including Alcide De Gasperi, Konrad Adenauer and Robert Schuman, came from the Christian democratic tradition of the political centre-right. Their successors have a responsibility to carry that ambition forward.

I remain optimistic. Millions of centre-right Europeans believe in democracy, freedom and European unity. Their political voice could prove decisive in Europe’s future. Giorgio Re Agrigento, Sicily, Italy