by Andreu Misse

El Pais – 09/06/2009

In this article, the El Pais correspondent in Brussels explains how the support to left parties has followed the downward trend of voter participation in European elections. The humiliating defeat of the socialists last Sunday leaves the future of the European Union to the conservatives in the middle of a severe economic and institutional crisis.

This new chapter of the EU is characterised by the disaffection of Europeans (the turnout was a record low of 43%).The Right-wing have been the grand victors of the European elections, although there were victories too for far-right and anti-immigrant parties. Voters shifted to the Right and this might secure the second mandate at the EU executive’s helm of Jose Manuel Durão Barroso.

According to Misse, the Left has been unable to offer solid European proposals and a plausible answer to the economic crisis to mobilise voters, not even a candidate for the European Commission to challenge Barroso. The president of the PES, Poul Nyroup Rasmussen, recognised that results were disappointing but refused the idea that there will be a profound crisis in European socialism.

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