Western middle class feels losing control of own destiny: senior EU official

One common feature seen especially among the middle class in Western society is that people feel like they have lost control of their own destiny, a senior EU official said Friday.

Frans Timmermans, First Vice-President of European Commission, made the remarks in a panel discussion over "The Future of the European Union" at the Munich Security Conference.

The wining slogan in the Brexit campaign was to "regain control", which reflected the phenomenon of lost control not only in Britain, but in the entire Western world including the U.S. and EU member states, he said.

"That is the consequence of many crises we've seen in the last ten years," he said, adding that the economic crisis in particular, had swept away self-confidence of middle class in Western world.

Despite Brexit, Timmermans called on restoring self-confidence among citizens and their capacity to shape a common future within the European Union.

"Our destiny is based on our values, not on the common market or our currency," he added. Endit