{"id":8429,"date":"2014-07-14T12:01:33","date_gmt":"2014-07-14T11:01:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitedexplanations.org\/english\/?p=8429"},"modified":"2014-07-14T14:23:28","modified_gmt":"2014-07-14T13:23:28","slug":"8429","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedexplanations.org\/english\/2014\/07\/14\/8429\/","title":{"rendered":"After the hysteria: What next after the European elections?"},"content":{"rendered":"

To outsiders who don\u2019t have a clue about what is going on inside the European Union, it has become clear as day that Europe is in the middle of a crisis. While in most corners of the world the European parliamentary elections<\/strong> whiz by without anyone blinking an eye, let alone acknowledging their outcome, this year\u2019s results gained unprecedented media attention and were cause for concern far beyond the continent\u2019s borders<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

But what exactly happened<\/strong> during the European parliamentary elections just one month ago, and what will happen now that the hype and hysteria have died down?<\/p>\n

\u00a0A Festival of Unfounded Reproaches<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The European Parliamentary elections took place from 22-25 May<\/strong> and were the 8th<\/sup> EU Parliamentary elections since 1979. This year\u2019s electoral race was also the first in which pan-European parties presented candidates for President of the European Commission<\/strong>, the executive body of the European Union responsible for proposing legislation and running the EU, among other tasks.<\/p>\n

\"Members<\/a>

Members of the EP voting [European Parliament, via Flickr]<\/p><\/div>\n

To the chagrin of the few pro-EU observers out there, Eurosceptic parties to the left and right of the political spectrum gained a significant number of seats<\/strong> at the expense of their integration-enthusiast counterparts. In fact, it would seem that the unpopular EU policy of curbing deficits at the expense of living standards has taken its toll.<\/p>\n

There are 751 seats<\/strong> in the European Parliament, 376 of which are needed to gain a majority. Representation of citizens is digressively proportional, meaning that no member state can have less than 6 or more than 96 seats.<\/p>\n

The Bizarre and Downright Potty<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The results of this year\u2019s elections were cause for concern for everyone who cares about the future of, well, human rights in Europe. Far right parties came in third in Austria, Greece and Hungary<\/strong>, and Greece sent three members of the neo-Nazi group the Golden Dawn<\/strong> to Brussels, marking the first time an openly neo-Nazi party will represent its country in Europe\u2019s capital<\/strong>. With a third of its leadership in prison for murder, racial violence and extortion, the Golden Dawn is now, undoubtedly, one of the most popular political parties in Greece.<\/p>\n

But if the gains of neo-Nazis sent a chill rippling through Europe, the victories of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP)<\/strong> caused observers to let loose a collective gasp. This year, UKIP gained 11 percentage points with 27.5% of the vote and sent a whopping 24 MEPs packing in preparation for parliament.<\/p>\n

\"UKIP<\/a>

UKIP campaign poster, May 2014<\/p><\/div>\n

UKIP<\/strong>, whose representatives are known for their disparaging remarks about immigrants<\/strong> –among an assortment of other addlepated and offensive comments– now has 24 of the UK\u2019s 73 seats<\/strong> in the European Parliament. It is the first time since 1906 that a party other than Labour or the Conservatives led a national election.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the election\u2019s most resounding victor was France\u2019s Marine Le Pen<\/strong>, whose Front National and its anti-immigration platform took home a quarter of the vote<\/strong>. France\u2019s ruling Socialist party has now been relegated to third place with a dismal 14%. Capitalizing on the anger over unemployment, commentators have been quick to note that the FN made great strides forward by behaving very much like the old communist party, touting itself as a representative of the French working-class. Among its other aspirations, however, the National Front wishes to return the death penalty, re-criminalize abortion and ban same-sex marriages<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Similarly, the Danish People\u2019s Party<\/strong> won almost 27% of the vote. Its leader Pia Kj\u00e6rsgaard is almost as vehement an opponent of immigration as Le Pen. In Italy, the far-right Lega Nord<\/strong> also gained 6% of the vote; and in Austria, the fiercely anti-Muslim immigration party Austrian Freedom<\/strong> doubled its number of MEPs from 2 to 4, winning almost a fifth of the vote. Meanwhile, Hungary\u2019s Jobbik<\/strong>, another radically nationalist party, maintained its three MEPs.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, some turn left<\/h3>\n

But not all is lost. Several parties did break with this disturbing trend and even veered their countries to the left.<\/p>\n

In Spain<\/strong>, for example, the 4-month-old \u2018Podemos<\/strong>\u2019 party, which developed out<\/a> of the left-wing protest movement los Indignados that occupied Madrid\u2019s Puerta del Sol in 2011, won five seats and 1.2 million votes, despite its more than meagre budget. In Germany, another brand-new party, the Alternative for Germany (AFD)<\/strong>, gained an unexpected 7%. AFD is Germany\u2019s first Eurosceptic party and runs on an anti-euro platform.<\/p>\n

In Greece<\/strong>, the left wing, anti-austerity party Syriza<\/strong> also made leaps and bounds, winning the ballot by almost four points over the conservative New Democratic Party led by Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras. Meanwhile, in Ireland<\/strong>, an unprecedented three seats went to the leftist party Sinn Fein<\/strong>, which also campaigned against austerity measures.<\/p>\n

In Italy<\/strong>, the anti-establishment Five Star movement<\/strong>, led by former comedian Beppe Grillo, came in second place. Like Germany\u2019s AFD, the party campaigned to take Italy out of the Euro.<\/p>\n

Presidents are selected, not elected.<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In theory, the European Commission Presidency should go to the candidate of the party with the most votes<\/strong>. And while the\u00a0European People’s Party<\/a>\u00a0lost ground to the\u00a0Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats<\/a>, it remained the largest faction in the new parliament. This means that Jean-Claude\u00a0Juncker<\/strong>, a former Luxembourg PM, will assume the presidency. Despite widespread opposition to his candidacy, Juncker was elected by a qualified majority of the European Council<\/a> as well as a simple majority in the new parliament.<\/p>\n

While Britain pulled out all the stops to ensure that Juncker<\/strong>, who many consider an old-school European federalist, didn\u2019t make it to the top spot<\/strong>, David Cameron has since been spotted rubbing shoulders with the newly appointed.<\/p>\n

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Meanwhile, if the number of viewers tuned in to watch the EU Presidential debate \u2013 roughly 0.02% of the entire EU population \u2013 tells us anything, it\u2019s that EU citizens aren\u2019t even sure who the candidates for President are<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n