NYT - French Election EU's Next Big Test - UK quitting EU major blow but victory by Ms. Le Pen could be death knell - With the election of Trump that prospect has taken on new weight - ps: First casualty of the Globalists is always the language: EU and Europe are NOT synonymous. --tma

Debating Europe

LE LUC, France — When the French put a draft Constitution for a newly enlarged European Union to a referendum in 2005, Pascal Verrelle voted passionately against it — hoping it would stop the European Union in its tracks. He rejoiced when the effort failed, yet was dismayed when the bloc kept gathering more members and powers, anyway.

At the time, Mr. Verrelle, a former soldier, was a prison director, but he eventually felt compelled to enter politics and joined the far-right National Front. When he was elected mayor of this small town in Provence eight months ago, the first thing he did was to take down the European Union flag from City Hall.

“In 2005, a majority voted against Europe, and we still find ourselves in Europe, by magic,” he said, “and I find it inadmissible.”

Today the European Union is wobbling under the weight of problems encouraged in part by that unchecked expansion — stagnant economies, the euro crisis, new pressures from Russia and deep strains over migration, especially from newer members in Central and Eastern Europe.

But a visit to Le Luc and other villages in southern France is a reminder that the European Union faces yet another serious problem long in the making — a crisis of legitimacy — that is fueling right-wing, nationalist politics even in the traditional core of the bloc.

For Mr. Verrelle, 2005 was a watershed. Since then, opposition to a much-enlarged, poorer and vastly more diverse European Union has only increased. So has support for the National Front and its leader, Marine Le Pen, who has emerged as a serious contender in France’s presidential race.

Having already suffered a “Brexit” vote this year in Britain, Europe faces a series of critical elections in the year ahead. But none is more important than the vote in France, a founding European Union member.

The British decision to quit the European Union was a major blow, but a victory by Ms. Le Pen could be the death knell. And with the election of Donald J. Trump in the United States, that prospect has taken on new weight. ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/17/world/europe/european-union-france-frexit-marine-le-pen.html