News analysis: Will 2017 be turning point for European integration?

Is the European Union (EU) at stake? With the rise of populist parties throughout Europe -- and the threat to the status quo they are said to represent -- it is a question that's increasingly being posed.

Almost 60 years ago, the six founding nations signed the Treaty of Rome, laying the foundations for what would later become the EU. The six wanted to "ensure the economic and social progress of their countries."

Six decades later, those ideals are under threat, with increasing political and social divisions, not only among EU member states but also within the countries themselves.

GROWING DISCONTENT

There is a growing sense of discontent within the political classes, "big business" and globalization and a weakening of solidarity within and between European countries.

In this polarized climate, are the likes of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and Front National (FN) in France. Tempered by the UK's decision to leave the EU and Trump's anti-EU and protectionist rhetoric, the far right rallying cry is aiming to capitalize on what it sees as a political momentum in its favor.

For some, this populist phenomenon threatens law-making and cooperation among EU member states, as well as the achievements made in common projects like the euro and the single market.

But for Nigel Farage, Marine Le Pen and others of their ilk, the rise of populism is a form of "liberation."

First, there was the "Brexit deliverance", then the Trump triumph. It's all about the rebirth of the nation station, and this time, said Farage, it is "for real."

He forecast, "that's why you can all look forward to: some even bigger dramatic shocks coming in 2017. It's going to be, for nation state democrats, a very happy new year."

THREAT OF POPULISM

It isn't just FN and UKIP which are attracting public support. There's also Alternative for Germany (AfD), Austria's Freedom Party, Belgium's Vlaams Belang, the Czech Republic's Dawn of Direct Democracy, and Italy's Northern League.

Indeed, some of Europe's biggest far-right parties are hoping to secure election wins this year.

With elections coming up first in the Netherlands, followed by France, and then Germany, the parties are banking on the public malaise triggered, in part, by a large inflow of refugees in the past two years to capture more voters.

Wilders' Freedom Party (PVV) has already taken a lead in polls ahead of the March 15 general elections in the Netherlands while Marine Le Pen of the FN is likely to make it to the final round of the French presidential election in late April.

For these and others like them, the EU has become an all-too-easy target and the butt of much populist rhetoric. Hate speech, intolerance and racism associated with some of the populist groups is concerning for both citizens and states alike.

EU EXISTENTIAL CRISIS

In Europe, political and economic risk is nothing new. For years, nationalism, populism, conflicting strategic interests, low economic growth and high unemployment have driven EU members apart.

Meanwhile, the 19-country eurozone has seen a variety of threats to its existence over the past decade, connected to issues such as high levels of debt, fragile banking sectors, and growing Euroscepticism.

So far, it has managed to survive them. In 2017, however, the eurozone crisis could enter a new, more dangerous stage as risk reaches its largest political and economic players.

British Conservative Party parliamentarian Charles Tannock said that, "after six decades of U.S. support for European integration, we have now a U.S. president who supports Brexit, asks which country will leave the EU next and is advised by a man (Farage) who wants to implode the entire EU. "

Little wonder he fears the EU faces an existential crisis.

"Extreme versions of populism, nationalism, isolationism, and protectionism are not going to solve the problems of our continent or the planet," he said.

So, how to respond? Should populism be countered or just accepted as the "will of the people"?

LONGER THE WAIT WORSE IT GETS

Former UK deputy prime minister Nick Clegg takes a doomsday approach to the rise of populism and has called on the EU to fight back.

For him, people like UKIP's Farage are united by their absolute loathing of all supra-national institutions and arrangements.

Clegg went further, describing populism a "staunch and stark" attack on the founding principles of EU integration by forces who want to see the EU unwound altogether.

Clegg warned, "It would be a big mistake for Brussels to think all it needs to do now is defend the battlements of the EU, muddle through and that all will be well. If it thinks that then I really do fear it could spell the end of the EU itself."

For some, the answer is for the soon-to-be EU27 to reform and strengthen. Reform, it is argued, might include a "complete" fiscal union and changes to the rules on the free movement of people, including an "emergency brake" on migration where necessary.

In a situation in which terrorism and growing polarization across Europe is creating fear among the public, national governments, the EU institutions and NATO are re-thinking how to address this threat. As of now, they have not come up with an answer and the longer they wait, the worse the situation will become. Endit