No one can say it was inevitable, but it was expected. The next European
Parliament will be even more fragmented than the last. Representatives
from both far-left and far-right parties will be moving to Strasbourg in
greater numbers than before. As for turnout, the picture is mixed: in
some countries more people voted than before, but those votes often went
to Euro-skeptic parties.
All in all, the general public's interest in the EU is shockingly low -
even though all the parties tried their best to motivate the electorate.
For the first time, they chose leading candidates to tour the continent
and debate each other. They tried hard to personalize and enliven the
election, and make it more relevant. It did little good.
The only reassuring thing is that the parliament will remain functional,
despite all the enemies in its own ranks. The representatives from
UKIP, the Front National, the Danish People's Party will deliver angry
speeches, but they won't really be able to block anything - because they
differ from one another too much - they're too focused on their own
nationalism.
By the same token, their rhetoric is always directed at their own voters
in their respective home countries. They prefer to be the voice of the
dissatisfied, rather than develop a major common project. This will
cause the centrist, Europe-friendly parties to stick closer together.
No, the Euro-skeptic extremists don't present a threat, at least not in
the European Parliament.
The debt crisis of a few years ago showed how quickly an old order could
be overthrown. The EU itself was peering into the abyss. That crisis
has been overcome, more or less, but only thanks to common effort,
mutual aid, and discipline. If each country had tried to find its way
out of its crisis on its own, they would all have lost - even the
stronger among them. Is that too long ago to still be a lesson?
How high the stakes are in Europe can also be seen from the Ukraine
crisis: 25 years after the end of the Cold War, we're in danger of
entering a new long-term European conflict. Astonishingly, the Ukraine
crisis barely played a role in the election campaign, even though the EU
is perhaps the best example of what balance and cooperation can
achieve.
I met an African election observer at the last European election in
2009. When he saw the turnout figures - of 43 percent, the same as this
time around - he shook his head and said, "In a lot of African states
we'd be glad to have any free elections at all. And you Europeans throw
away your rights!" It was a humbling meeting.
If we in the EU have no bigger problems than a few over-bureaucratic
directives, then we really do have it good. Maybe we have it too good to
appreciate the miracle of peace and common prosperity that we gained 70
years ago.
Read more: Opinion: We must value the EU once again | Europe | DW.DE | 26.05.2014
