From a distance all appears well but from within the EU controversy is fed by local politicians and outdated structures - by RM

The EU is maturing, but in order to make it a more workable Union politicians are not following-up on improving its functionality. In other words, what was considered "a work in progress" has become a stagnated "Pandora's box" from which all kinds of stop-gap methods are pulled, while most real problems are shoved under the mat.

Obviously this can go on for a while but eventually it will result in a breakup of the EU with horrific consequences for everyone.

It seems there are two areas of concern which need to be addressed as soon as possible.

1) too much reliance on keeping the international financial industry happy

In tackling this problem let us keep in mind.
a) banks are not too big too fail when they become too big to manage
b) the international financial industry is not people friendly or transparent but their relationship with governments is protective on the side of the governments, which raises a lot of questions.

One solution could be the proposed creation of a fiscal union next to the political union, only if this fiscal union in reality will be able to block external speculators and lower interest rates. The EU has the financial resources and structures to realize a fiscal union rather quickly as long as there is enough political will to do so.

2) Citizens of the EU are not fully included in the present Bruxelles political structure and decision making process 

Instead of seeing the EU as a positive force citizens consider it more as a hindrance to their well being. This obviously is a boost to right-wing and nationalist politicians like Geert Wilders in the Netherlands and similar narrow-minded politicians around Europe, who unfortunately are gaining in strength.

Solving this credibility/visibility gap could be relative simple if politicians have the courage to approach it with vision and are able to step over their own nationalistic shadows.

a)  Democratize the EU political structure by including a popularly elected President and Vice President to operate in conjunction with the European Commission, the European Parliament  and the European Court of Justice, while at the same time guaranteeing the independence of the national parliaments of all EU member nation states.   

b) revamp the EU public information services by binging in professional communicators with private sector experience who are able to communicate in a pro-active way. Information coming out of the EU today is mainly influenced by opinions from the international press.

A note of caution on referendums: 
Referendums have always turned to be a 'cop-out'. They usually reflect short-term public opinion based on the rhetoric of politicians or the economic situation of the country where the referendum is held. Referendums never reflect a long term vision of the population and therefore decisions about changes as those mentioned above can best come from locally elected parliaments and governments.

It's all a question of courage and maybe our European politicians will eventually surprise us?

EU-Digest