European elections show move to right

Justin Frewen Photo/File

Last month the 28 EU states went to the polls to elect the 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPS) to represent their 500 million plus citizens.

Seats were allocated according to the principle of "degressive proportionality", with larger states enjoying a greater number of representatives.

As the most populous nation, Germany has the largest representation at 96 followed by France at 74 and the UK at 73. Estonia, Malta and Cyprus have the least representation with 6 MEPs each.

For the first time since 1979, there was an upturn in voter turnover, albeit extremely slight, from 43 per cent to 43.09 per cent. Positively received though this fact was in EU circles, it nonetheless indicates that almost 57 per cent of EU voters either did not participate or spoiled their vote. Delving deeper an east-west divide also becomes apparent.

While voting in the West was not particularly high with 48 per cent voting in Germany, 43 per cent in France and 34 per cent in the UK, it was even lower in the East with only 25 per cent participating in Croatia, 23 per cent in Poland, 19 per cent in the Czech Republic and a mere 13 per cent in Slovakia.

Moreover, the turnout for the European elections compares highly unfavourably with that for national elections.

The 34 per cent turnout in Britain, for example, was a significant drop from the 65 per cent participation in the 2010 national elections.

Despite intense efforts to portray the elections as a pan-European poll, as evidenced by the stage-managed "grand release" of all results on Sunday May 25, campaigns across the Union were dominated by local and national issues.

And indeed it is at the national level that the EU parliament elections will arguably have the greatest significance.

In Great Britain, France and Denmark, radical right-wing parties opposed to the EU made unprecedented gains. The success of these parties has greatly ruffled the feathers of the traditional political establishment.

In Britain, the principal traditional political parties - the Conservatives and Labour - are clearly concerned by the rise of UK Independence Party (UKIP), particularly given the upcoming general elections in 2015.

Arguably of even greater importance is the significant impact these far right parties are having on the national politics and policies of member states. In France, the presence of the Front National, led by Marine Le Pen, has seen the mainstream parties drift ever further to the right, hardening their stance on issues such as immigration. In Britain, despite not having a single seat in parliament, UKIP has had a noteworthy influence on the Conservative party's policy on immigration and the EU.

Visibly agitated by his party's relegation to third place behind UKIP and Labour, British Prime Minister and Conservative leader David Cameron admonished the EU as being "too big and bossy", arguing that national states should take the lead where possible with the EU only coming into the picture when absolutely necessary. French president Franois Hollande requested the EU to "scale back" its power in an address to the nation after seeing his Socialist Party humiliated by the Front Nationale.

However, it is far from clear how exactly the EU might be adapted or renewed to satisfy the broad range of Eurosceptic groups and individuals elected, let alone to resurrect the flagging fortunes of the traditional political parties around Europe and reduce the increasing influence of extreme right wing parties on national policies.

Justin Frewen is a Wanganui-based United Nations consultant, who has served the UN on humanitarian missions for almost 20 years.