Book review: the battle for Europe: how an elite hijacked a continent and how we can take it back by Thomas Fazi

In The Battle for Europe, Thomas Fazi argues that European Union elites have seized on the financial crash to push through damaging neoliberal policies, undermining social cohesion and vital public services. Showcasing a programme for progressive reform and outlining how citizens and workers of Europe can radically overhaul EU institutions, Fazi proposes size limits for banks, Eurobonds, and a separation of investment and commercial banking. Though some of these measures are neither new nor uncontested, and parts of the author’s arguments remain superficial, Inez Freiin-Von-Weitershausen finds that the book acts as a provocative exercise to test one’s attitude towards Europe and the current economic and financial system.