I agree that the fiscal policies espoused by Merkel and others have been harmful, and that in general the politics of austerity are partially responsible for high unemployment and the rise of far-right euroskeptic parties.
However, I think the EU has recently begun to re-examine those policies – even the IMF is advocating for stimulus and arguing against austerity – and I think a reassessment of the EU structure of governance is necessary.
Paul Krugman in recent years noted how the US’s ability to recover from the recession better than the EU did stemmed from its ability to control its own currency and marshall resources to boost demand. His column refuted Republicans’ claims at the time that Europe was in poor shape because of its welfare state mentality, and that then-President Obama was mistaken in following Europe’s path to fiscal insolvency. Rather, Krugman noted, Republican federalism and deficit hawkishness would result in the same fecklessness that marred European attempts at recovery.
That said, I feel that while I agree with some of your criticisms of EU governance and do support reform, I feel that Europe is in too fragile a state right now to sustain an attack by the far right demagogues. Granted, Austria, and presumably the Netherlands, have rejected a far-right candidate – and I am not prepared to give Trump any credit for that, or for unintentionally serving as a cautionary tale – but the German and French elections are far from assured. I am hoping that sane candidates will prevail and we can have this debate about reform afterwards without toppling friendly governments and installing extremists.