The outcome of the elections for the European Parliament in June 2024 is a mixed bag. On the one hand the conservative parties, Germany’s CDU/CSU for example, becoming once again the strongest group in Parliament, claimed victory. On the other hand, several extreme right wing parties (France’s Le Pen, Austria’s FPÖ, Germany’s AFD and others) gained significantly, while others, such as Hungary’s Fidesz and Poland’s PIS, actually lost seats.
Still, many observers have concluded that this election saw a definite movement towards the right. The “poison of nationalism”, started by Nigel Farage in Britain back in 2016, is spreading. Thus the parties supporting European integration have lost ground against the nationalists in several EU countries.
However, we have to seriously question whether this was indeed a ‘European’ election. Campaigns in the 27 member states reflected much more domestic problems than ‘European’ issues. Consequently, people mostly voted on the performance of their own country’s government and very many of the parties in power lost significantly. Indeed, the mood in most countries has turned sour – be it because of the Covid pandemic, Russia’s war against Ukraine, or concerns about immigration, the state of the economy, social uncertainties or other issues. For those in (national) power it was difficult to deal with that wide-spread frustration. Meanwhile the populists and demagogic nationalists could benefit from all this, despite the fact that they could not offer any serious and better alternatives.
In some of 27 EU member states 16 year-olds were allowed to vote. And many younger voters chose far right parties.
As I intimated, this Parliament is not a truly European institution. It reflects much more the dichotomy between an integrated bloc and a collection of different 27 member states. In other words it represents the true nature of the incomplete European project. Apart from the shared sovereignty which the member states have given to the EU institutions in the process of integration (such as the single market, freedom of movement etc.), the different nation states are still very much alive and eager to preserve their identity and as much power as possible. The debates in the European Parliament reflect this reality. European integration remains an unfinished business. In times of crisis the enemies of the EU within – the nationalists and proto-fascists – profit from it, by making the EU their scapegoat for failed national policies or incomplete European answers.
British voters had already had the chance of testing the promises of nationalism. “Taking back control” was the Brexit mantra but 8 years after the vote it has become crystal clear that in today’s interdependent world trying to “go it alone” only leads to more problems or even disaster. To deal with today’s challenges – be it immigration, economic prosperity or Russia’s war – the only rational answer is more cooperation and integration.
Unfortunately, the newly elected European Parliament promises to experience more in-fighting than providing good solutions to deal with the challenges the EU is facing.
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