Political Shock Coming No Matter Which Side Wins Brexit

Britain’s EU referendum calls into question march toward closer ties; resistance over ‘total integration’

This holds true no matter which side wins the vote on Thursday.

The Wall Street Journal reports, and I agree, ‘Brexit’ Vote Will Change Europe, No Matter the Outcome.

If the U.K. decides in Thursday’s referendum to leave the European Union, it would shake the continent to its political foundations. Even if it stays, the bloc may never be the same.

A decision to leave, which would be a first by a member nation, would deepen the crisis facing a continent already struggling with economic weakness, debt problems, large-scale migration and growing geopolitical instability to its south and east.

The referendum, at a minimum, has delivered a shock to Europe’s political classes, calling into question what some had once regarded as an inevitable march toward a federal EU.

“Obsessed with the idea of instant and total integration, we failed to notice that ordinary people, the citizens of Europe, do not share our Euro-enthusiasm,” European Council President Donald Tusk observed in a speech in late May. “The specter of a breakup is haunting Europe, and a vision of a federation doesn’t seem to me like the best answer to it.”

Tusk at least seems to understand something. In contrast, Juncker Proclaims Himself All-Knowing God of EU.

Mike “Mish” Shedlock