The Guardian view on the far right’s plans for Brussels: doing the work of Xi, Putin and Trump | Editorial

If ever enacted, proposals by Marine Le Pen and the AfD leader, Alice Weidel, to hollow out EU institutions would be a continental act of self-harm

Following the Brexit referendum in 2016, MarineLePen was in a predictably celebratory mood.Britain's vote to leave the European Union, she told one interviewer, was the first breach in the Brussels Wall". Ms Le Pen's Front National party wasat that point committed to taking France downthesame path, given the chance. But as the UK'sself-inflicted economic wounds became a cautionary tale for the rest of Europe, the notion ofFrexit was put on ice.

Instead, Ms Le Pen now hopes to lead far-right alliesin hollowing out the EU from within. This month, both she and the leader of Alternative fur Deutschland, Alice Weidel, outlined their visions of aEurope of nations" in which EU institutions would be stripped of both cash and power. Ms Weidel's new deal for Europe" would abolish elections to the European parliament, and seek German opt-outs in areas such as migration, defence and common borrowing. Ms Le Pen's party, now called NationalRally, proposes slashing French contributions to the EU budget by 60% over a five-yearpresidential term, and ending the role of Brusselsin proposing common policies for the 27member states.

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