EURCP election special

“The European Union Review & Call to Prayer”

Newsletter publishers: Hugh & Norma Davis [Not directed by any other ministry] http://www.euprayer.com/

4 June: European Parliament elections in the UK and the Netherlands

5 June: Voting in Czech Republic and Ireland

6 June: Voting in Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Italy, Latvia, Malta and Slovakia

7 June: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden

Full results here from 2100 BST on 7 June

Page last updated at 10:18 GMT, Monday, 11 May 2009 11:18 UK

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Europe opens big election debate 

Campaigning has started for the 4-7 June elections to the European Parliament and the economic crisis is likely to be the dominant issue.

As the outgoing parliament's final session drew to a close the BBC's Chris Mason asked five MEPs for their views on this election.

DANIEL COHN-BENDIT, CO-PRESIDENT OF GREENS. Currently a German MEP, but standing as a French candidate in June.

The European Parliament is so important for environmental laws and for laws governing the market. So people really ought to care who they send here. We have made a big step forward in controlling chemicals across Europe, with the so-called REACH directive.

The climate package has also been crucial, the reducing of carbon dioxide, pushing the renewable supplies of energy. I'd like to see it go further, but this is still an important step forward.

In the next five years we have to make a more social Europe. We need a fiscal harmonisation across Europe - similar taxes. And I think we have to continue to push the environmental agenda. The ecological transformation of the economy - what we call the Green New Deal - must be on the agenda.  As for me - I am a European MEP. I am trying to find a European common interest. I am not defending a national position. It is the same message - the Green message - whether I am standing in Germany or France.

 

 

 

JILL EVANS, PLAID CYMRU. Representing Wales, sits in parliament's European Free Alliance group.

The single most important issue is jobs. It's what people are raising with me all the time. They are worried about their own jobs. They are worried about their children getting jobs. They are worried about the effect on communities of post offices closing, shops closing, and services going.

The forecast is things are going to get worse - and people know that and are very concerned about it. They are now asking us as politicians what we are going to do.

The government in Wales has been dealing directly with the European Union and that has really paid off. We have seen recently £15m from the European Investment Bank to support small businesses in Wales, and I see my part in playing a role in that partnership. We need more investment in the Welsh economy and yet the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is talking about cutting millions of pounds' worth of services in Wales. It is the worst time ever to be cutting public spending. We need those jobs. About a third of all jobs in Wales are in the public sector. We desperately need those jobs, so I see it as my role to support the government in Wales to protect our services and to protect jobs.

GUNNAR HOEKMARK, MODERATE PARTY. Swedish MEP, sits with centre-right European People's Party.

The focus for me is getting us out of the economic crisis - and into something better. We need to become a knowledge economy and become more competitive if we are going to take a lead in the world. We need that in order to uphold prosperity and welfare. I think that will be the crucial issue.

We are running the risk of regulating too much, rather than regulate to create a level playing field. That's a huge difference. You can regulate what people can do. And you can regulate in order to open up borders. I tend to believe in the second alternative.

 

 

 

 

DAN JOERGENSEN, SOCIAL DEMOCRAT. Danish MEP, sits with Socialist group in parliament.

I have two priorities. One is the economic crisis - how do we get out of it and how do we make sure that we make some regulations to ensure we don't have another crisis like it in the future.

My other priority is climate change. And the two issues are linked. One of the ways to get out of the economic crisis is to make investments in the green sector - meaning we need more green jobs. These two issues are on the top of the agenda and this is a good thing, because the Eurosceptics don't have any solutions. Where there is also an ideological divide between the left wing and the right wing this gives scope for a good debate.

 

 

 

 

GRAHAM WATSON, LIB DEM. British MEP and leader of Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE).

Our view is that the most important issue in this election for people is how Europe is going to get the economy back on track. How we are going to protect people who are at risk of losing their jobs or their homes? How we are going to get people into new jobs?

Our belief is that with a coordinated approach, from 27 countries, of investing in the technologies of the future - that means investing in renewable energy production, with wind and wave and tidal power from northwestern Europe, solar, thermal power from the south and a distribution grid for high-voltage, direct-current electricity distribution, we can not only get people back to work, we can cut down our reliance on oil and gas, we can meet our Kyoto commitments and emerge with the best green technology in the world.

 

 

[BBC REPORT] Viewpoint: A truly European vote?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8025749.stm

Page last updated at 10:15 GMT, Tuesday, 5 May 2009 11:15 UK

Voter turnout could hit a record low in the June elections to the European Parliament, despite its powerful influence on our daily lives. Professor Simon Hix of the London School of Economics (LSE) suggests ways of making the election more than a mid-term vote on national governments.

At the time of the first European Parliament elections in 1979 there was widespread enthusiasm for this experiment in transnational democracy.

Sadly these contests have not lived up to their billing. Few people vote and those that do vote are mainly motivated by national rather than European politics.

If you are a UK voter, when you go to the polls on 4 June, will you be thinking about Gordon Brown, David Cameron, Nick Clegg, or Alex Salmond? Or will you be thinking about Joseph Daul, Martin Schulz, Graham Watson, or Dani Cohn-Bendit (the party leaders in the European Parliament)? Exactly!

Only 38% voted in the last European elections in the UK, and 46% across the EU.

If European elections are really mid-term national elections - about national rather than European politicians and issues - then turnout in these elections is not too bad. After all, only 35% voted in the English local elections in 2008 and 37% voted in the mid-term US Congressional elections in 2006.

But treating European Parliament elections as national elections is a big problem for the European Parliament.

MEPs' new muscle

The European Parliament is now a very powerful legislative body.

The EU passes many laws which affect our daily lives, and most of these laws are amended and passed by the European Parliament.

The European Parliament also influences how our taxes are spent in Brussels, and plays a role in the election of the European Commission - the EU executive.

A big difference between the European Parliament and most national parliaments is that the European Commission and the EU governments cannot railroad their laws through the European chamber. Coalitions have to be built issue-by-issue.

As a result, more than 50% of amendments proposed by the European Parliament end up as law. In this respect, the European Parliament is more like the US Congress than the House of Commons.

European issues tend to play second fiddle to national ones

So, European Parliament elections matter. If the centre-right wins we can expect more market liberalisation, fewer environmental regulations, and more restrictive immigration policies, while if the centre-left wins, we can expect stricter environmental standards, more labour market rules and liberal immigration policies.

Most voters in Europe care about these policy choices, yet they are not presented with them in European elections.

This is because national parties have an incentive to treat these elections as national contests.

For example, the Conservatives will try more to embarrass the Labour government, rather than to win more seats in the European Parliament.

Personalities matter

But things could be different. In some countries individual MEPs rather than national parties do the campaigning in European elections.

Most countries, like Britain, use a form of proportional representation (PR) which only allows citizens to choose between political parties.

However, some countries, such as Finland, Denmark or Ireland, use a form of PR which allows citizens to vote for different candidates from the same party. These "open" systems encourage politicians to campaign on their personal records and encourage parties to put up high-profile candidates. Not surprisingly, many more voters in Finland, Denmark and Ireland know the names of their MEPs and feel more engaged in European elections than voters in Britain.

Above all, though, European elections will remain national contests unless there is a genuine contest for power at the European level.

After the elections in June, the governments and the European Parliament will elect a new EU Commission President. Why don't we see rival candidates for this position before the elections, rather than after them?

The centre-right European People's Party already backs the incumbent, Jose Manuel Barroso. But who will the Labour MEPs (in the Party of European Socialists) vote for when they elect the Commission President in July?

Will they vote for the same person as the British Conservatives?

If there were different candidates for the Commission President before the elections we could ask our party leaders who they support for the most important post in EU politics, and why. The media would also have some European personalities to write about in the build-up to the elections, and we could all watch the winner and loser on election night.

Now that would be a genuine European election. Sadly it won't happen this time. But maybe in 2014.

Simon Hix is Professor of European and Comparative Politics at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and author of What's Wrong with the European Union and How to Fix It.