The EU has long had a problem of legitimacy, but the euro crisis has made it worse.
According to Eurobarometer, 72 percent of Spaniards do not trust the EU. The Pew Research Centre finds that 75 percent of Italians think European economic integration has been bad for their country, as do 77 percent of the French and 78 percent of the Greeks.
For more than 60 years, the EU has been built and managed by technocrats, hidden from the public gaze - or so it has seemed.
In fact,...
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Lisbeth founded EUobserver in 2000 and is responsible to the Board for effective strategic leadership, planning and performance. After graduating from the Danish School of Media and Journalism, she worked as a journalist, analyst, and editor for Danish media.