by Ricardo Martinez de Rituerto

El Pais – 09/06/2009

In this article, the author points out that a fifth of the MEPs of the new Parliament are “ultras” and their heterogeneity will make difficult to create a parliamentary group. Far-right parties and extremists (anti-immigration, ultranationalists, eurosceptics, europhobes, and populists) won substantial support in many member states. According to the author, a detailed analysis of this situation highlights that these are a bunch of ornery people that will fail to create a parliamentary group as happened in 2007.

As Grahan Watson said, the divisions and incoherencies of these parties will be an obstacle to spread their ideas. The article concludes with the thoughts of Antonio Missiroli, the Director of Studies at the European Policy Center, who argues that these parties will make noise as they might vote against proposals but they will not necessarily represent a pivotal role in shaping alliances.

To read the full article click here.

Back to Spanich Press on Europe