Was the EU always doomed?

The Brexit debate has revived a number of important questions, one of which is the viability of the EU project whatever the eventual Brexit outcome. Although the Brexit shambles has shown up the mendacity and amateurish cunning of the British governing classes, it has also reminded us yet again of EU deficiencies. Brexit has exposed a deep, dark void within the entire ethos of the EU in the modern world. What is it for?

In recent decades the world has moved on to such an extent that the rationale for a Europe relentlessly squeezed into a decrepit EU mould cannot be sufficient today. The mould is too old. The ideals of its founders, even if we concede that they were ideals, were obviously formed by global conditions which have changed in ways which could not have been foreseen. Europe has also changed as the shadow of World War II fades away into the history books.

In other words the EU is no longer in touch with its original ideals. It has begun to resemble a tired and fractious empire rather than a would-be global superpower. Even the notion that it could be a global superpower seems risible, as if Ruritania decided to build a base on Mars.

A key EU problem is language. There are others of course, but language is a headache too many middle class people are liable to ignore, as if paying attention to it would seem parochial and not at all cosmopolitan. As if we are stuck in the seventies where casual holidays in Europe and a knowledge of French wines are all it takes to be cosmopolitan. As if the language problem is something to treat with disdain rather than the divisive burden which the EU cannot possibly resolve.

Yet it is a simple enough problem to describe - language matters because it is divisive. Subtly unpredictable in its effects, it is a cultural barrier, a national flag, a cultural flag, an indicator of differing values and the need for endlessly tedious negotiation. With its multiplicity of language the EU is more empire than superstate and Brexit has revealed yet again how problematic empires are. Particularly empires lacking inspired leadership, but that's another EU problem.

When the exigencies of empire override national problems then we have a recipe for endless fractious difficulties which cannot be resolved until the empire falls apart. The EU is old and tired - waiting for something it dare not name in any language.