Donald Trump’s capture of the White House should serve as warning to policymakers responding to similar populism in Europe, European Economic and Financial Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici
said Monday.
“We need to turn this painful awakening into a political wake-up call,” Moscovici said in an address at Harvard University, adding that discontented voters on both sides of the Atlantic now distrusted the state institutions built to serve them.
Moscovici said that income inequality and flagging economic growth, terrorist attacks and war in the Middle East had undermined the value of Europe in many voters’ eyes, while the gulf separating them from political elites had widened.
“We have a huge lesson to learn from last week’s election here in the US. The fact is that a growing part of our populations can no longer relate to the existing systems,” he said. “These people consider themselves the losers of globalization. We should not misunderstand the meaning of their vote. Even if driven by anger, it is completely rational.” Moscovici called for a “more political Europe” which could counter what he called populist narratives.
“Europe needs to be able to prove to all parts of its population, who are feeling the effects of globalization in very different ways depending on where they live and what their skills are, that it is still able to offer them protection,” he said.
