'Packed with unelected officials': Euroskepticism spiking in crisis-stricken Europe

Europeans are becoming increasingly disillusioned with the institutions at the centre of the bloc as protests continue to sweep the continent. The EU is seen as out-of-touch and democratically unaccountable.

Anti-EU moods are on a dramatic rise in France, with nearly two-thirds of French people thinking the European Union is headed in the wrong direction, according to a Gallup poll conducted at the beginning of June.

“Both the EU and the euro – a common currency virtually imposed on us – are religiously defended here. There is no diversity of opinion,” said Marine Le Pen, president of the Front National (FN), the third-largest political party in France. “What I am asking for is a referendum.”

Le Pen believes in the need for France as a nation to create a dialogue with its citizens about Europe, rather than have the institution dominating discussions by default.

An argument held by all Euroskeptics is that the institution is packed with unelected officials, making it undemocratic.

“You could say that it’s not democratic because the EU commissioners are not elected by the European citizens. You could say that it’s too expensive because some member states give a lot of money to the EU budget but don’t receive as much money, and what the Euro has given to Europe is actually a way for specific member states to postpone structural reforms,” said French political analyst Alex Korbel. 

In a recent Pew Research Global Attitudes report, it was found that across eight EU countries that there was – on average – a 15 percent drop in support for the EU. 

For more, watch RT's Tesa Arcilla reporting from Brussels