Contrary to the theory of the EU as a neutral level playing field, the events after the Great Recession (2007/2009) have shown that the current European integration project is defined by the regressive nature of its treaties and by an unprecedented radicalization of its neoliberal character. Uneven and hierarchical power relations (core – periphery) have long been a feature of European integration, finally culminating in Germany’s dominance of the EU’s economic policy orientations after the Great Recession. The regulatory developments that accompanied the establishment of the Eurozone and the measures taken in response to the Euro crisis through the imposition of ever stricter and ever less legitimated rules and governance structures (EuroPlus-Pact, Firscal Compact, etc.) deepened the authoritarian, neoliberal nature of EU-integration. Thus, the current integration project became a threat to democracy and popular sovereignty.

Read the enire appeal:
http://lexit-network.org/appeal

Selected signatories:

* Tariq Ali, author and filmmaker, UK
* Alfredo D’Attorre, MP Sinistra Italiana, Italy
* Stefano Fassina, former Vice-Minister of Finance, MP Sinistra Italiana, Italy
* Prof. Heiner Flassbeck, Hamburg University and Makroskop, Germany
* Inge Höger, MP Die Linke, Germany
* Prof. Martin Höpner, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, Germany
* Prof. Costas Lapavitsas, SOAS University of London, UK
* Frédéric Lordon, CNRS, France
* Prof. Andreas Nölke, Goethe University, Germany
* Prof. Wolfgang Streeck, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, Germany