The Professor of Economics at London’s SOAS University claimed the European Union is “depoliticising” economic policies across member states regardless of their political orientation. This, he explained, is forcing people to ask themselves “What is the point of voting?” given no matter which Government they put in power it will have to follow the same strict economic rules dictated by the Brussels institutions.
Mr Lapavitsas, a former member of the Greek Parliament under the Syraza Government in 2015, argued the “rejection of the European Union” across member states is justified by the interpretation of EU rules by EU citizens as a “loss of democratic capabilities”.
He accused the Brussels bloc of rendering EU citizens “hopeless” and “frustrated”, facilitating the rise of right-wing parties.
He said: “The economic policy, which is by far in a way the most important policy of a modern government – certainly the backbone policy of a modern government – has been deeply depoliticised.
“It has gradually become an issue over which a democratic vote means very little.
“And you can see that by simply considering the Syriza Government in Greece and the Salvini Government in Italy from the opposite ends of the political spectrum.
“The Syriza Government was a left-wing government three years ago, the Salvini coalition Government – I know it’s not Salvini’s Government but Salvini is the man in the Italian Government – comes from the other side of the political spectrum.
“Different policies, different outlook, different economic analysis presumably.
“Both of them have been told by the European Union you can believe whatever you like but in the end, you will have to follow the policies imposed by the Union as a whole.
“You’ll have to comply. And that is presented as economic sense, economic realism.
“Well then the question easily arises: why vote?
“What is the point of voting? What is the point of submitting economic plans to the electorate and seeking the electorate’s support?
“What’s the point of the Italians voting for one party and the Greeks voting for another if both will have to do the same thing in the end because that’s what the Union dictates?
“That’s the depoliticisation of economics that I mentioned before.
“Ordinary people know about that, they understand it.
“It may appear as the technocratic sense of the people who know, the various specialists who populate the pages of newspapers but ordinary people understand it as powerlessness.
“They understand it as loss of democratic capabilities.
“They understand it as hopelessness and frustration. And that leads to the various phenomena that we observe across Europe: the rejection of the European Union and the strengthening of the right.”