Apathy and Eurosceptisism - The European Elections 2004
Tuesday 15 June 2004

According to Pat Cox, President of the European Parliament, the elections which took place across the newly enlarged European Union this weekend, was the largest single exercise of democracy the continent has ever seen. Despite this only 155 million people took to the polls out of the 350 million eligible voters in the 25 member states of the EU making it the EU's lowest ever voter turnout. The slogan around Brussels today is 'a victory for apathy'.

In the 10 new member states an average of only 25 percent cast their vote, with Slovakia recording a very disappointing 17 percent turnout. Those voting in many of the established member states also displayed apathetic attitudes, with just over 37 percent voting in both the UK and Sweden.

The elections also attracted political controversy. With the results just in, it is evident that most member states have voted against their national governing party. This looks set to continue the complex political imbalance between the decision-making powers in the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union. The Council is made up of the Heads of States of all member states and its definite left-wing majority puts it at odds with the predominately centre-right political bias in the European Parliament. The centre-right EPP-ED group now has 275 seats compared to the 200 of PES left-wing Group.

This imbalance is now compounded by the surprise success of the Eurosceptic parties, which gained more seats in this election than ever before. In the UK, the UK Independence Party (UKIP) scooped 12 seats and in Sweden the Eurosceptic Junilistan Party achieved an unexpected 15 percent of the vote, giving it three seats in the European Parliament. It must also be noted that the in Ireland, the first ever Sinn Fein candidate, Mary Lou McDonald has won a seat in the European Parliament. The Taoiseach Bertie Ahern also ended weeks of speculation announcing that he would not be going to Brussels to run for the coveted post of European Commission President but would lead his party into the next Government.

This rise of eurosceptisism could considerably affect the Parliament's voting trend. Should these minority parties organise themselves into one alliance, the political balance would alter dramatically. These minority groups now hold 69 seats in the Parliament, three more than the Liberal Group. This puts them third in the list of majority, which gives them a considerable voting prowess. Should such an alliance be successfully formed, the Parliament could begin to block much of the legislation, which comes from the Commission, potentially creating a political stalemate.

With Robert Kilroy-Silk, UKIP's celebrity mouthpiece and new MEP, vowing in a recent BBC article that his policy on Europe is to "Wreck it - expose it for the waste, the corruption and the way it's eroding our independence and our sovereignty", we can already see the kind of anti-constructive stance that some of the new Members will be taking.

Although, whilst their manifesto is to withdraw the UK permanently from the EU, other member state's eurosceptics have different ideas. The Dutch, for example, see their eurosceptisism as more constructive, vowing to change the EU for the better rather than disassociate themselves entirely.

Only time will tell how well this new political balance will fare in the newly enlarged EU of 25 member states. One thing is for certain though; this election was a victory for sceptics and apathetics. European citizens eager to embrace the EU doctrine and vote accordingly seem to be thin on the ground.

From a UK perspective, the election results have proved to be a political minefield for all the major Parties.

The Labour Party suffered substantial losses, coming behind the Conservatives and UKIP in four of the 12 regions in the UK. The shift in public opinion away from Labour's pro-European stance towards that of the sceptical UKIP, has raised many questions over the signing of the European Constitution by Tony Blair this week in Brussels.

Equally, the Conservatives have suffered big losses at the hands of UKIP. Many potential Conservative voters have turned to UKIP, feeling the Tories to be not anti-European enough. In the Conservative stronghold of the South East, UKIP managed to gain 2 seats, a pattern repeated in the East Midlands, the Eastern region and the South West.

Over all, UKIP came third in the UK, beating the Liberal Democrats into fourth place. Despite this, the Lib Dems gained the most overall seats compared to the Tories who lost the most.

On a lighter note, the European Parliament has once again attracted its fair share of minor celebrities and infamous faces. Maintaining his seat in the West-Midlands is former EastEnders actor Michael Cashman, whilst entering his first term for UKIP in the East Midlands is former BBC television presenter Robert Kilroy-Silk.

On the broader European scale, the variety of candidates has been entertaining to say the least. From the new member states, a supermodel, a porn star, a former cosmonaut and an ice-hockey player have all stood in the elections. Much to the disappointment of many of the Brussels lobbying and journalistic fraternity, Carman Kass, the Estonian supermodel failed to gain her seat, a fate shared by Dolly Buster, the Czech porn star.

In France, Ari Vatenen, the Finnish former World Rally Driving Champion and MEP for Finland, caused an upset by racing past European Parliament Vice-President Françoise Grossetête to take the number one spot in the French elections. Vatenen, who spends most of his time in France, was voted more popular than the long-standing Vice-President.

The new political groupings within the European Parliament are expected to look something like this:

Ends

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