Who would’ve thought just one or two years ago, with the most mature and active European Parliament so far, that we would be looking at Europe’s most shameful European Elections yet? With expectations of between 35 and 38% turnout, it is time Europe starts to consider its structure, and the implication of these elections. In the Netherlands, the Party of Freedom, led by Geert Wilders, the infamous Dutch MP whose film, Fitna, was banned from being played in the European Parliament, placed second in the European Elections, which were reported early.Wilders’ film, Fitna, was banned from being played in the European Parliament last year, worrying the citizens of Europe who are positioned differently on the political spectrum, as to what the European Parliament will look like in the next term, with strong characters such as Wilders.
Remember ITS
Just two years ago, the European Parliament saw a temporarily successful creation of an extreme, right-wing, nationalist party, called Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty (ITS). The party, which attained official party status and funding, fell apart in under a year.
The group was dealt with disrespect, scorn, and disgust be the main groups of the European Parliament, with their Parliamentarians uniting -in a legal, yet in the least, undemocratic manner, to exclude ITS representatives from key positions in Parliamentary Committees.
MEPs cheered when the collapse of the ITS group was announced.
What now?
By all means, extreme MEPs will not account for the majority in the new European Parliament, but we cannot neglect that there will be more, and they will be more willing to band together and set up a party.
And not that I support the extremes, but if the anti-European parties can be represented in the European Parliament, then so can extremists of any nature.
It’s democracy.
And Europe, member state by member state, and as a collective, is paying for the mistakes of the past five years.
Who really cares?
Clearly - with such a turnout, the European Commission, who took the leading role in Communicating Europe, failed miserably in doing so. The more so that one can only imagine what the turn out would have been if the Commission and Parliament had not spent these millions of Euros for campaigning, on MTV, on the web, on billboards across Europe.
But does the Commission care? The President, who is campaigning for re-election, cares to the extent that it does not disrupt his plans for re-election. The Commissioner in charge, is on her way out anyway, and overall, the turnout simply does not affect the European Commission. If it were otherwise, we may have seen a more serious approach…
Campaign money was rightly and more correctly spent at the national level, by the parties and people on the ballots, to tour their country and voice their positions. To explain what the European elections mean, and how they can help.
The basic problem is that voters should not need to be convinced to vote in the EU elections. They should only need to be informed of their candidates, and actively seek to vote.
Parliament, and Member States are paying for Commissioners failures
Yes, we have set procedures, and legislation under Co-decision cannot go forward without being shaped by the Parliament, and agreed by the Council, but the initiative always originates from the European Commission.
My personal view, is that beyond the responses to local situations (which as we have seen in recent weeks, include some extreme cases) the European elections are largely a response not to the work of the European Parliament, but to the initiatives of the Commission.
The Commission is the best administration Europe, and perhaps of the world. At a technocratic level, it is usually impeccable. The problem starts and ends at the political level, Where the figures select, dictate, and shape policy approaches.
Europe should not be steered through the judgment of unelected Commissioners. Just as we should not deem legitimate a Parliament elected by less than 50% of Europeans. But where such luck?
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