GUIDE TO THE TRANSNATIONAL PARTIES RUNNING FOR THE EUROPEAN ELECTIONS

European Elections June 2009 The forthcoming European Elections running between the 4th and 7th of June are the largest ever elections taking place in a coordinated way across nation states. European Alternatives sees a potential in the European project to develop a politics beyond the nation state that answers to the demands of globalisation. For that reason we have produced a guide to the manifestos of the European-level parties and groupings standing in the elections. We believe that the only way a democratic Europe will be built is with informed voters who hold their elected representatives to account on their election policies. European Alternatives is committed to the emergence of a transnational politics. It would be a mistake to call these European elections truly transnational in their structure: rather a series of elections in nation states are all happening at the same time. There are some transnational aspects to the election, such as the fact that European citizens can vote in any EU member country where they are resident, but the lack of transnational lists of candidates, the divergence of electoral rules in different countries, and thefact that most European political parties are groupings of national parties means are all blockades against the emergence of a sphere of political discourse beyond the nation state. But whatever the national contexts in which members of the European parliament may be elected, they will take decisions in a parliamentary chamber that has responsibility for all of the European Union, and that therefore exercises its power transnationally. For this reason it is crucial to understand the commitments of the political groups in this truly European context. European Alternatives believes in the radical democratisation of Europe, and acknowledges shortcomings in the current institutional arrangements in the European Union. The European parliament is the only directly elected European institution, and therefore must raise its voice ever louder to overcome the democratic shortcomings of those institutions around it. This voice will only have authority if it is accompanied with the voices of the peoples of Europe, and the peoples of Europe must demand they are given a real choice at the European level. Here we present the main choices, such as they are, for these elections. Click here to download the full PDF report of our European Elections Guide

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