Rod íguez-Pose, And és
A icle
Edi o ial: Discon en Is Eu ope's Main Th ea
In e economics
Sugges ed Ci a ion: Rod íguez-Pose, And és (2025) : Edi o ial: Discon en Is Eu ope's Main Th ea ,
In e economics, ISSN 1613-964X, Sciendo, Wa saw, Vol. 60, Iss. 2, pp. 70-71,
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In e economics 2025 | 2
70
Edi o ial
In e economics, 2025, 60(2), 70-71
JEL: R11, R58, O52
DOI: 10.2478/ie-2025-0014
Discon en Is Eu ope’s Main Th ea
Some imes ilms abou Romans ell us much mo e abou he cu en wo ld han we would da e
o admi . In Mon y Py hon’s Li e o B ian, he e is a scene whe e an i-Roman e olu iona ies ask
he o ically: “Wha ha e he Romans e e done o us?” only o lis , wi h inc easing eluc ance, he
aqueduc s, sani a ion, oads, i iga ion, medicine, educa ion, wine, public ba hs and public sa e y.
Fo decades, he Eu opean Union has been cas – a leas among i s champions – as an undis-
pu ed o ce o good. Peace, p ospe i y, democ acy, social p og ess – all w apped up in a nea
echnoc a ic bow. Bu oday, many Eu opean ci izens a e channelling hei inne Judean People’s
F on , g umbling: “Wha has he EU e e done o us?” The g and p ojec o uni y and s abili y is
now iewed in many qua e s as an ou -o - ouch o e see , blind o he g ie ances o hose who no
longe eel hey belong. The “Romani i e domum” momen o Mon y Py hon ame is being ans-
o med in o a g owing con inen al c y o “Eu oc a i i e domum”: B ussels bu eauc a s, go home.
This discon en is no me ely he o ical. I is eshaping he Eu opean poli ical landscape wi h
ala ming speed. The numbe s ell hei own s o y. Suppo o ha d Eu oscep ic pa ies – hose
p oposing he demise o he EU o ques ioning basic Eu opean p inciples, such as he p imacy o
Eu opean law o e na ional law – eached close o 15% o he o e in na ional legisla i e elec ions
in 2023. I we add he so e Eu oscep ic pa ies, he o e in ha same yea o pa ies opposed
o u he EU in eg a ion s ood a 28.5%. Today i is e y likely o be a ound one- hi d o he o al
o e. In ou coun ies – Hunga y, I aly, Poland and F ance – Eu oscep ics command o app oach
an ou igh majo i y. They al eady go e n o pa icipa e in go e nmen in Hunga y, I aly, Slo akia
and he Ne he lands, play kingmake in Sweden, and a e he la ges pa y in Aus ia and Poland.
Gi en he cu en end, hey will soon be knocking a he doo s o powe in many o he Eu opean
coun ies.
And he p o ile o hei o e s ma e s. The s onges su ge o suppo o Eu oscep i-
cism is ound in he ha d igh , whose elec o al weigh now s ands a 25% o he elec o a e and
exceeds ha o he 1930s; a his o ical pa allel ha should gi e us pause.
Wha explains his widesp ead discon en ? T adi ionally, he ise o discon en has been based
on cul u al explana ions (No is & Ingleha , 2019); on he e ol o indi iduals – o en men, o en
ageing, o en whi e, o en wi h low le els o educa ion – who inc easingly eel ill a ease wi h a
Eu ope ha is a mo e cosmopoli an and di e se han he one hey g ew up in. These a e people
who, acco ding o sociologis A lie Hochschild (2018), eel like s ange s in hei own land. Te -
i o ial explana ions also abound. The ba le lines pi h i ing, globalised ci ies agains s agna -
ing owns, subu bs and u al a eas (e.g. Rodden, 2019).
Howe e , one explana ion ha is gaining
signi ican ac ion is ha o long- e m economic s agna ion and decline. Many places in Eu ope
a e s uck in wha is inc easingly known as a de elopmen ap. As de ined by my colleagues and
mysel (Dieme e al., 2022), a place is in a de elopmen ap when i is unable o e ain i s eco-
nomic dynamism in e ms o income, p oduc i i y and employmen , while also unde pe o ming
i s na ional and Eu opean pee s on hese same dimensions. The e a e 60 million Eu opeans li ing
in places whe e he GDP pe capi a in eal e ms oday is below ha o he yea 2000. Abou one-
hi d o he EU popula ion li es in places ha ha e been alling slowly behind. The incidence o
de elopmen aps is pa icula ly s ong in F ance, I aly, G eece and C oa ia, hough hey can be
ound in i ually e e y coun y in he EU.
And, in con as o wha happens, o example, in he US, when a place in Eu ope alls in o a
de elopmen ap, i s ays apped o long pe iods o ime. Economic s agna ion has become a
s uc u al ea u e in many pa s o Eu ope. People li ing in hese places ha inc easingly “don’
© The Au ho (s) 2025. Open Access: This a icle is dis ibu ed unde he e ms o he C ea i e Commons A ibu-
ion 4.0 In e na ional License (h ps://c ea i ecommons.o g/licenses/by/4.0/).
Open Access unding p o ided by ZBW – Leibniz In o ma ion Cen e o Economics.
ZBW – Leibniz In o ma ion Cen e o Economics 71
Edi o ial
And és Rod íguez-Pose,
London School o Eco-
nomics, UK.
ma e ” (Rod íguez-Pose, 2018) a e d i ing he ise o Eu oscep icism. The Eu oscep ic o e is a
consequence o a eac ion o communi ies in which indi idual losses a e s ongly iden i ied wi h
collec i e losses. I is undamen ally linked o he geog aphy o decline (Rod íguez-Pose e al.,
2024); o places ha ha e wi nessed conside able economic, employmen and demog aphic de-
cline o e he long e m. The G ea Recession o 2008 may ha e igni ed he use o hei eac ion,
bu he discon en has oo s ha a e a deepe .
So, wha is o be done? Can his g owing Eu oscep icism – he g a es h ea o he Eu opean
p ojec since i s incep ion – be s emmed? Many ad oca e ha , i he d i e is cul u al, he e is
a need o engage in cul u al wa s. Bu engaging in Kul u kamp is a dange ous game; one ha
isks deepening he ac u es al eady unning h ough Eu opean socie ies.
A mo e p agma ic esponse lies in ackling long- e m economic decline. Many o he o e s
ha ha e shi ed owa ds Eu oscep ic posi ions li e in places ha ha e allen h ough he policy
c acks: oo ich o a ac he a en ion o he Eu opean cohesion policy; oo s a ic and unglam-
o ous o be a he cen e o na ional policies. Ye , hese places s ill ha e signi ican economic
po en ial ha emains un apped (Eu opean Commission, 2024). I is no as i he d i e s o he
indus ial e olu ion and o much o he p ospe i y du ing he 20 h cen u y ha e los hei eco-
nomic mojo o e nigh . The p oblem is la gely e i o ial and equi es a esponse o equal ambi-
ion. I concen a ed economic decline con inues unchecked, he poli ical consequences will
be seismic. This is no longe a deba e abou economics. I is abou he e y su i al o he EU.
Ye , ou decision-make s w ing hei hands o e declining global in luence, abou compe i i e-
ness, de ence, clima e change, he digi al ansi ion. All o hese, o cou se, a e highly p ess-
ing conce ns. We ce ainly need a mo e compe i i e Eu ope, able o de end i sel and lead he
igh agains clima e change. Bu le us no delude ou sel es. All hese p io i ies will become
academic i Eu oscep icism con inues i s ma ch owa ds ou igh dominance. Wi hou an EU
ha can su i e in i s cu en o m, he e will be no mo e compe i i e, mo e secu e o g eene
Eu ope; he e will be no well- unc ioning single ma ke . The e will simply be a e y di e en Eu-
ope om he one ha has been buil o e he las 70 yea s. I T ump’s acoly es seize e en mo e
powe han hey al eady ha e – o e en jus con inue o eshape he poli ical discou se, wi hou
e en ha ing o win – we will e u n o he agmen ed con inen o old; one in ol ing na ional
i al ies, illibe al egimes and g ea e economic i ele ance.
And so, we e u n o Rome. In Ridley Sco ’s Gladia o , a ail ye wise and iumphan empe o ,
Ma cus Au elius, asks his mos us ed gene al, Maximus Decimus Me idius, why he igh s o
he Empi e. Maximus eplies “I’ e seen much o he es o he wo ld. I is b u al and c uel and
da k. Rome is he ligh !” On he o he side o he A lan ic, e en s a e al eady p o ing jus how
b u al and c uel and da k he wo ld can become. The EU is impe ec , ce ainly. I is lawed and
in need o e o m. Bu i is also he mos success ul a emp a peace, p ospe i y and democ-
acy he con inen has e e known. And all he al e na i es on he able a e a , a wo se. So,
we mus igh o i . And we mus ac as . Rome is he ligh ! Eu ope is he ligh !
Re e ences
Dieme , A., Iamma ino, S., Rod íguez-Pose, A., & S o pe , M. (2022). The Regional De elopmen T ap in Eu ope.
Economic Geog aphy, 98(5), 487–509.
Eu opean Commission. (2024). Fo ging a sus ainable u u e oge he – Cohesion o a compe i i e and inclusi e Eu ope
– Repo o he High-Le el G oup on he Fu u e o Cohesion Policy. Publica ions O ice o he Eu opean Union.
Hochschild, A. R. (2018). S ange s in hei own land: Ange and mou ning on he Ame ican igh . The New P ess.
No is, P., & Ingleha , R. (2019). Cul u al backlash: T ump, B exi , and au ho i a ian populism. Camb idge Uni e si y P ess.
Rodden, J. A. (2019). Why ci ies lose: The deep oo s o he u ban- u al poli ical di ide. Basic Books.
Rod íguez-Pose, A. (2018). The e enge o he places ha don’ ma e (and wha o do abou i ). Camb idge Jou nal
o Regions, Economy and Socie y, 11(1), 189–209.
Rod íguez-Pose, A., Dijks a, L., & Poelman, H. (2024). The Geog aphy o EU Discon en and he Regional De elop-
men T ap. Economic Geog aphy, 100(3), 213–245.
