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| Dionis Cenuşa | |
The perception that the European integration represents an elitist project without major impact on the whole population has circulated in the Moldovan public sphere for a period. The key arguments that fuel it derive from the value of the European integration for the ordinary people. The public attachment to the European Union and, respectively, the attractiveness of the European development model in Moldova depend on this.
The European integration elitism can be interpreted in different ways. This can refer to the state of dissatisfaction with the impracticability of the European standards, which do not stop to magnetize public attention, or to the distance existing between the people and the European institutions, which interact between them through the Moldovan rulers whose shortage of credibility exceeds the acceptable limits of legitimacy. The confusion related to the profile of the real beneficiaries also amplifies the ordinary people’s perception that the European integration does not represent them and that it has been captured by political elites. This uncertainty related to the EU energizes idyllic attitudes to the Eurasian Economic Union, which, in the view of some people, is closer to the way of life in Moldova.
What is elitist image of European integration determined by?
There are at least three elements that stimulate the feeling that the European integration is an elitist process that is separated from the general public interest.
The first aspect resides in the perception of the utility of the European project in relation to social groups in need. According to these, the channeling of the European assistance (between €610 and €746 million in 2014-2020) to increasing salaries and pensions would be more justified than using this money for reforming institutions or adjusting the legislation. Instead of investments in the public sector or the judicial one, which are considered inefficient and corrupt, the ordinary citizens would like the effects of the European integration to include the rapid improvement of the living conditions. The utilitarian approach to the EU is due to the improper understanding of the EU’s real objectives in Moldova and the region. Thus, the EU is interested not in fulfilling the obligations of national governments, but in strengthening the internal capacities of the states from its neighborhood and increasing their autonomy.
The second aspect refers to the functionality of the European integration. Among the indirect purposes of this is to level social discrepancies and to multiply the economic opportunities. The actions of the governments that ruled after 2009, which are described as pro-European, often ran counter to the essence of the European integration. The public dissatisfaction with the local pro-European elites responsible for the effective functioning of the European agenda intensified Euro-skepticism among the Moldovans. The estrangement of the public from the European integration idea, including as a form to refuse complicity with corruptible governments, was provoked by numerous deviations of the pro-European political elite and by the prolonged tolerance of this and late punishment of it by the EU.
The third source that facilitates speculations related to the elitism of the European integration derives from the shortcomings in the communication about the EU’s role in Moldova. Even if the information about the impact of the European agenda expands qualitatively and quantitatively, this circulates slower than the image of the failures of the governments associated with the European course. The advertising character of the information about the effects of the European integration becomes slightly boring for the people, who look for critical, objective and authentic information about the EU in Moldova. Thus, the more sincere is the information, the higher is the number of minds and hearts that can be conquered. For the purpose, Brussels should articulate categorical positions in an operative way. The appropriate and accessible, neutral and critical communication can reduce the distance between the European integration process and the Moldovan citizens. Moreover, this discourages speculations about the elitist character of the European project.
European integration versus Eurasian integration
The Eurasian integration represents a political desideratum of the pro-Russian geopolitical forces that aren’t anchored in agreements with legal effects that cannot have an impact on Moldova. Even in an inept state, the Eurasian Economic Union sometimes enjoys more sympathies than the EU, while the future status of observer state will become an additional stimulus.
This reveals a significant dose of superficiality with which the people treat the integrationist processes. Thus, the EU is often penalized by the public for the tolerance of the corrupt pro-European political elites, while the Eurasian Union is favored without any reason. The given discrepancy reveals a high level of penetration of Eurasian ideas promoted by Russia through Russian media outlets in the Moldova public sphere, which is yet Russofile. Seasonal migration that facilitates the continuous import of Russian models of behavior and thinking contributes to this.
The undeserved popularity of the Eurasian integration, alongside the erroneous perception that the European integration favors first of all the political elites, not the ordinary people, will be tested in the 2018 parliamentary elections.
Instead of conclusions...
Even if the Association Agreement has been implemented for three years and the EU Delegation to Moldova improved its communication instruments, the ordinary people’s perceptions of the European integration remain distorted. Therefore, any vacuum caused by the reticence, distancing from or criticism of the European project risk being easily filled with preferences for the Eurasian Union.
The EU’s preoccupations should include the ensuring of the precise functioning of the European agenda, promotion and protection of the interests of the general public and criticizing of the government’s deviations in a public and harsh way, which should also be communicated efficiently. Otherwise, the European integration will not manage to gain popularity to annihilate the speculations about elitism and to conquer the mind, heart and stomach of the Moldovan public.
IPN publishes in the Op-Ed rubric opinion pieces submitted by authors not affiliated with our editorial board. The opinions expressed in these articles do not necessarily coincide with the opinions of our editorial board.