29/05/2019
The European Parliament has been elected:
The results of the european elections clearly reflect that there is no doubt that the Greens made the most significant progress in this election, especially in Germany and Ireland. Even if the EPP, S&D and ALDE had the absolute majority for a coalition, we have every reason to believe that the Greens could play a crucial role in the election of the next European Commission.
A clear "loser" are the Social Democrats. Even if they are not the only fraction that brings in heavy losses (think of the European People's Party, EPP), social democracy across Europe is following a dangerous path.Ofcourse, there are exceptions such as Spain, where Prime Minister Sanchez's Socialists won the European elections for the first time since 2004, or the Netherlands, where Franz Timmermans led a deadly PvdA (Partij van de Arbeid) to victory. Nevertheless, one can not deny that this policy, once dominant in Western Europe, is irrelevant to a seemingly unstoppable path. In Germany, the centre of modern social democracy, the SPD has fallen behind the Greens and is in only a few seats more than the right-wing populist AfD in third place. In France, the Member State with the strongest social democracy among the major member states for decades, the Parti Socialiste has almost flown out of the European Parliament, being the sixth strongest force just above the five percent border. Not to mention Great Britain, where Labor's unclear position spared them just over fourth place.
For the first time in 25 years, more than half of all eligible voters voted in the european elections. Slowly but surely, a European public space is developing. Amongst others, this high voting turnout has helped to prevent a massive victory of the populist forces - the good news of this election.
Nevertheless, the higher turnout should not lead us to believe that Europe's citizens now love Europe wholeheartedly and have voted because they have been mobilized by passionate electoral campaigns. In fact, the 2019 campaign has shown how much the parties in Europe communicate on national level and how little they are able to communicate what they stand for in Europe. To be honest, it would be a sheer illusion to speak of a European public space in connection with the election campaigns, so that much work still needs to be done in the European Union!
