Far-right plans to hollow out the EU would weaken Europe and benefit its rivals, so pro-Europeans must urgently make the case for a strong EU
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/profile/editorial. "The Guardian view on the far right’s plans for Brussels: doing the work of Xi, Putin and Trump | Editorial | The Guardian." October 27, 2026. www.theguardian.com
The Gist
The Guardian says that far-right leaders in France and Germany want to drain the EU of money and power, and that this would leave Europe weaker and easier for rivals like China, Russia and the US to push around. Because these parties are polling well and have a timetable, the editorial argues pro-European leaders need to wake up and start making the case for a strong EU now.
Conclusion
The far right's proposals to strip EU institutions of power and money would be an act of continental self-harm that benefits Xi, Putin and Trump's successors, so pro-European forces must stop being complacent and vigorously defend a strong EU now.
Premises
- Marine Le Pen and Alice Weidel have set out concrete plans to hollow out the EU from within, including cutting French contributions by 60%, ending Brussels' power to propose common policies, abolishing European Parliament elections, and seeking German opt-outs on migration, defence and common borrowing.
- These ideas are now in the programmes of parties leading polls in France and Germany, and similar ultra-nationalist parties could be in power in France, Italy and Poland by 2029, giving the plans a realistic path to implementation.
- Europe's major challenges (economic competition with China and the US, climate change, security) can only be properly addressed by pooling resources at the continental level.
- A weakened, fragmented EU driven by competing national interests would undermine European strategic autonomy in defence and stall the green transition.
- A fragmented Europe would open vulnerabilities that Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin and any Maga successor to Trump would eagerly exploit.
- Pro-European leaders' response so far has been underwhelming, with only Macron showing real urgency, while the far right is full of passionate intensity.
Assumptions
- Pooling of sovereignty at the EU level is more effective than national or intergovernmental cooperation for addressing these challenges.
- The far-right plans would be implemented as described and would produce the fragmentation the author predicts.
- Xi, Putin and Trump-style leaders benefit from a weaker EU and would act to exploit it.
- Public argument and advocacy can shift opinion enough to counter the far-right's momentum.
- Polling leads and stated timetables will translate into actual power and coordinated action across countries.
- The UK's post-Brexit experience demonstrates the costs of disengagement from the EU.