Queries May 2014 [antikvár]

THE TURNING POINTof May 2014by Massimo D'Alema. FEPS President, former Prime Minister of ItalyFor the first time since the first European elections in 1979, the declining trend of the turnout has reverted. Yet, 43.09% is still a very unsatisfactory result. Moreover, this slight increase of the turnout level (only by 0.9 percentage points) is to be ascribed to the populist and anti-European movements and parties, wihich have I conquered the support of electors that, most probably, viould i otherwise have swelled the ranks of the abstainersi: if we compare the general features of the new assembly with the one elected in 2009, two main differences stand out. While five years ago the conservative forces clearly outnumbered the progressive ones, today these two blocs are substantially equivalent. The second element concerns the significant presence of Euro-sceptic parties, which can count on more than 120 MEPs. The conclusion seems obvious; the European electors have punished those parties that have been identified with the austerity policies and with the current management of the European Union. Therefore, it has to be said that the Party of European Socialists (PES) as a whole has not been perceived as a strong and convincing alternative.This anti-European attitude is not only to be attributed to the social crisis and the rejection of austerity, but also, particularly in the richest countries, to the nationalist retrenchment, to the hostility towards immigrants and to the refusal of the principle of solidarity. Furthermore, taking into consideration the high level of abstaining, which concerns the largest part of the European electorate, it is necessary to acknowledge that in the member states there is a deep and widespread lack of confidence towards political parties and institutions, particularly the European ones. A lack of confidence that is now beyond the mere state of alert.Having said this, it is clear that last May electoral results impose a radical turn. This is something that must be understood by all the pro-European forces in Europe, and in particularby the EPP and the liberals. The goal shall be drawing the European people closer to the EU, both by increasing the transparency of the European processes and actively involving the citizens, and by changing the EU policies, which shall be much more growth-oriented than they have been so far. In other words, Europe needs more than discussions about oilcans, cucumber curves and chlorinated chickensi An attractive Union has to concentrate on attractive concepts that convince the citizens and hence the voters.Against this backdrop, the socialists' condition is particularly delicate. Despite the PES initiative of the Top candidate which has been followed by the major parties in the European Parliament, despite the tremendous EU campaign of Martin Schuiz who knocked the doors across Europe with many thousands of PES activists, despite a major loss of 53 seats, conservatives won. From its 2nd position, it was difficult for the PES and Martin Schuiz to ask for the leadership of the Commission. Nevertheless, the social-democrats cannot purely play the role of the opposition within the European Parliament, considering that now the progressive governments make up a significant share of the European Council and that in the European Parliament no other majority is possible.Additionally, the progressive movement should further challenge the trend and establish European social democracy as the real driving force for the European Union. The PES initiative of introducing the leading candidates in 2009 - to which FEPS contributed - was a substantial step forward towards more democracy. The next step should be to change the current Europarty system by offering to their national activists the opportunity to join their Europarty, i.e. for progressive activists to join the PES directly. With such new initiative, one can expect that national parties will not be only concerned with EU issues just for the few months before the European elections but that they wili enhance the debate during the entire legislative term.QUERIES - Summer 2014