ANALYSIS OF THE EUROPEAN ELECTION CAMPAIGNS IN FRANCE

European Elections June 2009 by Véronique Foulon France European parliamentary elections are taking place on 7 June 2009. Out of 736 MEPs to be elected, French European citizens vote to elect 72 MEPs against the 78 previously elected between 2004-2009. Amongst the eight French European constituencies, five of them will elect between one to two less MEPs than in 2004. In these impending elections, nine main campaigning parties enter the lists, of which seven have actual currently elected MEPs at the European Parliament. With regard to the number of representatives sitting in the EU Parliament, minor parties are to be located mostly to the far right or left of the French political spectrum. Those are, to the extreme right, the ‘Front National’ 7 MEPs strong and the ‘Mouvement Pour la France’ with 3 MEPs, running this year under the umbrella of Libertas. To the far left, the less extreme ‘Parti Communiste Français,’ now campaigning with the ‘Parti De Gauche’ founded by Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Marc Dolez, former member of the PS, within a new rally called ‘Front de Gauche’, has an equal number of 3 elected MEPs, whereas the newly reforged extremist ‘Nouveau Parti Anticapitaliste’ (NPA) has no elected representatives at the European Parliament. The Greens, identified as ‘Europe Écologie’, have currently 6 MEPs. To the centre, 11 incumbent MEPs are representing the former ‘Union pour la Démocratie Française’ (UDF), now the two-year-old Mouvement Démocrate (MoDem) whilst ‘Debout La République’ (DLR), a centre-right Eurosceptic Gaullist party led by Nicolas Dupont-Aignan and founded ten years ago, has no elected MEPs. To the right, the ‘Union pour un Mouvement Populaire’ (UMP), party of the elected President Sarkozy, is present in the European Parliament with 17 members associated with the European People’s Party (EPP), while its direct rival to the left, the ‘Parti Socialiste’ (PS) has 31 MEPs part of the Socialist Group in the European Parliament consisting of the Party of European Socialists (PES) . Focus will be made on the programmes of the seven parliamentary represented parties in proportion to their numbers of MEPs and to the level of detail of their programmes.

UNION POUR UN MOUVEMENT POPULAIRE (UMP)

To the right, the party of the ‘Union pour un Mouvement Populaire,’ abbreviated as UMP, (http://www.ump2009.eu/pdf/projet-majorite-presidentielle.pdf) states that Europe should not be a problem but a solution which empowers Europeans in an exceptional context of global financial, ethical and climatic crisis, where the UK, Germany or France are no longer influential as isolated entities within the international society of great powers like the US, China or India. UMP’s motto is thus: ‘If Europe wants, Europe can.’ They say that they want politics in Europe and then focus on a self-centred nationalistic pride resulting from the idea that the recent French presidency of the EU brought about a move of the EU. Democracy and attitude to the EU The ’30 propositions for Europe to protect and to act’ programme, mainly and roughly, lays stress on coordinated plans to boost economy, emphasizing France’s influence in the European Parliament with expressed worries regarding a bureaucratic EU disconnected from the citizen’s concerns and against absent or idle MEPs. Europe in the world The worldwide impact of the G20 makes it more necessary than ever to defend EU’s interests on the international stage with a strong, determined and influential Europe. Enlargement UMP are for Member States to make independent decisions on enlargement and reaffirm their opposition to Turkey’s accession to the EU. They prefer the development of a special partnership with Turkey throughout the Euro-Mediterranean partnership relaunched as the Union for the Mediterranean. Economy UMP’s programme insists on the necessity to impose European regulations to control financial products and markets so as to lower speculative risks and protect Europeans’ goods and savings. In the same trend of mind, Europe should protect jobs and industries. In their words, Europe must fight against relocation and define rules of social, industrial, sustainable and tax competition at the international level. Those would be based on a principle of equity and reciprocity. To protect European consumers, they want strict security norms against sanitary risks of imported goods. Agricultural policy UMP imply that they want to keep the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) as it is, with regulation of agricultural prices against volatility and subsidies to the farmers. This would keep favouring France as the biggest agricultural producer in the EU in 2006 (see graph below).

They stress the value they attach to national products and the French tradition of rosé wine. UMP, as many other parties in these elections, see the importance of an EU environmental and sustainable policy. Migration Regarding migration policies, they want harmonized control of the external frontiers of the EU and a common EU migration policy which would be inspired by the principles of the ‘European Pact on Immigration and Asylum’ proposed by the French minister for immigration and national identity during the French presidency of the EU. What emerges from UMP’s programme is that, even if opposing the rejected idea of a protectionist Europe, contrasting it with their propositions for a more protective Europe, protectionist and regulatory policies are valorised under the cover of protection. No concrete social measures are proposed, and no mention is made regarding gender equality and women’s rights or migrants’ fundamental rights as human beings in a European Union supposed to respect human rights when broaching the question of migration.

LIBERTAS

Libertas (http://www.libertas2009.fr/category/le-projet), the pan-European political movement, founded by the Eurosceptic Irish businessman Declan Ganley, is grouping together the lists of the far right MPF (Mouvement Pour la France) conducted by Philippe de Villiers and of the rural traditionalist party led by Frederic Nihous CPNT (Chasse, Pêche, Nature et Tradition). They say they are against Turkey’s accession to the EU and for a protectionist Europe. This party has not provided its programme yet, but its main objectives are said to be a strong campaign against the Lisbon Treaty and the defence of five key principles, which are accountability of the EU with only elected politicians to make legislation, full disclosure of all European Parliament and Commission expenses, savings of 10€ billion to be identified by the Commission in the next financial year, holding of a referendum on any Constitution and cutting of the number of meetings in Brussels by 50% in 2010. In brief, Libertas takes for its own use the Commission communication of the White Paper on European Governance for better accountability and transparency (COM (2001) 428). At the same time, Libertas advocates respect of democracy in Europe by pleading for less EU, transnational legislation and politics as opposed to greater liberties for each individual nation-state. Its claim for legislation to be made by only elected politicians shows the extent to which it is playing with European citizens ignorance of the way EU institutions work. Indeed, the two institutions having the last word in making the law are consisting of nationally elected Members of the European Parliament or of legitimated delegated members of the national governments designated by their elected President, Prime Minister or Chancellor. One cannot deny that the current European political context is confronted with a strong problem with democracy and legitimacy. However, the issues at stake are more related to the way national politicians and European elected politicians exercise powers given by the peoples of Europe at the European level than to the clichéd idea that Brussels technocrats are deciding instead of the people.

FRONT NATIONAL

‘Front National’, known as FN, (http://www.fn2009.fr) is roughly against everything which has to do with current European policies and the European Union. Its motto is ‘Against European Fraud!’ and says: “Europe hurts, vote Front National.” It asserts that it is against the venal ‘Brussels’ Europe’ of relocation ruled by technocrats and colonised by African and Asian migrants. It is standing for the reintroduction of the ‘franc’ currency and a franc/euro parity, national and European preference, French and European social and environmental norms, security policies reasserting French sovereignty and a restoration of internal frontiers with strong control at the borders. FN wants nationalism in terms of immigration, jobs, industry and the economy, and a European and French defence policy emancipated from NATO and the US.

MOUVEMENT DEMOCRATE (MoDem)

Within the Alliance of Liberal and Democrats for Europe, ‘Mouvement Démocrate’, MoDem, (http://europe.lesdemocrates.fr/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/programme-legislature-web.pdf) is for a European model of solidarity. Europe is promoted as a vision of society reconciling social demand, democratic requirements and environmental urgency. MoDem presents its project for a humanist Europe in eleven bullet points articulated around the idea that only a stronger Europe will be able to tackle current and future challenges. Its plan is thus the only one featuring ambitious and concrete measures for a supranational Europe starting from the European Union as it currently exists. The party is against the re-election of José Manuel Barroso as president of the European Commission. MoDem proposes: Economy • As a response to the crisis: A European boosting plan funded by a European borrowing plan open to reach up to 3% of the European GDP to stimulate the economy in favour of future European projects and developments; to develop further and make an easier access to the European Social Fund (ESF) for European employees. • The idea of a European economic solidarity embodied in: A European council for economic policy of the Eurozone gathering the heads of states and interacting with the European Central Bank (ECB), a standardization of the tax system for savings and companies, an increase and strengthening of the EU budget with an allocated tax deducted from carbon emissions or from speculative activities without a rise of national taxation pressures. They also propose to double the budget allocated to European research and to introduce a practical assistance to take out patents, institute a European industrial policy with a strategic investment funds within the European Investment Bank (EIB) to finance strategic projects, green high tech and innovative SMEs, and to intensify European anti-monopoly measures. • Regulation of globalization implying: Elaboration of a European Charter of Financial and Banking Fundamental Principles with restriction on excessive remunerations and elimination of stock options but for the start-ups; to put a ban on tax havens practice; to create a unique European financial regulator; to transform the G20 in an Economic Security Council where all regions, Africa included, could make themselves heard; to deeply reform the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in order to integrate more social and environmental demands with a standardization of product norms; to introduce a new international reserve currency so as to avoid being dependent on US economic policy. Social Europe and gender equality • To promote a European social model associated with: A plan for social convergence to gradually harmonize levels of social protections in Europe; funding of European citizens’ education, health and adult training which cannot depend on market law; defence of public services and working-out of a European blueprint-directive; development of a social and environmental marking of businesses; implementation of a European familial policy to limit the effects of ageing population; fighting against discrimination and adopting a comprehensive directive; establishing the ‘Most Favoured European Woman Clause’ to spread the most favourable legislations for the rights of women already in force in some of the European countries; defining a European plan for handicap and construction norms to welcome disabled persons in any building; developing EU action regarding public health and sanitary security. Sustainability, energy and agriculture • Europe to be in the vanguard of sustainable development with: A redefinition of transports, production and housing within the frame of sustainable norms cutting the cost of energy; massive resorting to renewable energy to diversify energy resources; a European research project for sustainable energy; the development of agro-industries; a use of ESF to train people in new sustainable development jobs; GMOs moratory as long as their effects have not been evaluated by an independent research body; the creation of a European coastguard body against sea pollution; the building of a European energy solidarity with a coordination of supply and carriage infrastructures. • Agriculture and fishing to be humanely and sustainably managed by: Promoting quality European agriculture respectful of food security, environment and smallholding fabric; defending regulation of agricultural markets to let the producers produce and invest, given that in the long term, agricultural commodities market have to be regulated by an international authority; stopping export of agricultural surplus sold cut-price to poor countries as it is destroying their own agriculture; establishing a shared expertise between fishermen and scientists and long-term management plans to allow fishermen to anticipate their activities and business. European democracy • A citizen’s Europe achievable if: Public debates preceding decisions by three months are organized to allow European citizens to intervene and contact their MEPs; governments’ deliberations within the Council of the European Union are broadcasted on TV and the internet; access to European aids is made easier; a representative officer is taking care of European policy in every administrative entity; a referendum of European popular initiative is held; a non-military European service is initiated; MEPs have a good attendance record, are taking an active part in the Parliament’s projects and publish a yearly progress report of their offices. Fundamental rights and migration policy • Europe of rights for the European citizens with: Independence of the law; confirmation of a fundamental right of access to the internet and data protection at the European level; a European public prosecutor; the setting-up of a European civil code for an effective implementation of the rights of the citizens in all European countries; a reasonable and human migratory policy to guarantee identical asylum rights and regulate influx of migrants across the European Union. European identities • Europe protecting identities would: Reinforce a cultural Europe by defending cultural pluralism and supporting European creativity; maintain learning of two European foreign languages and of Europe’s history in school syllabi; develop students and apprentices’ exchanges with the help of a new Erasmus programme open to everyone and supported by a more extensive granting system. Europe in the world • Europe in the world should: Coordinate its national diplomacies; speak with one voice in international bodies like the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the International Labour Organization (ILO) and so forth; establish an independent European defence more difficult to achieve since France reintegrated NATO; clearly delimit European frontiers and stop diluting the European project in a big bargain. It is implied that Turkey should not access to the EU and be proposed a thorough partnership. • To give priority to the development of poor countries and: Stop the liberalization policies of agricultural markets which have caused the ruin of local agricultures; allow poor countries to access to food self-sufficiency, protect their agricultural markets and industries and let them produce what they eat and manufacture what they use; act to make exploitation and valorisation of commodities benefit those countries’ populations first; carry on with the EU engagement for Official Development Assistance (ODA); organize a support mechanism to finance social measures in poor countries most affected by the crisis.

EUROPE ECOLOGIE

Europe Écologie (http://www.europeecologie.fr/files/10raisons_li.pdf), part of the European Greens, asserts that facing environmental, social, food supply, energy, economic and financial urgency at the crossroads of multiple crises, the only solution implying realistic new models is an ecological conversion featuring a gradual change in our ways of production, consumption, life and labour. Economy can be ecologically transformed and thus contribute to millions of new qualified local jobs. Issues are of European and ecologist concern. Europe Écologie is for showing solidarity in globalization beyond national selfishness. Against the re-election of president Barroso, their programme is presented in ten structured arguments: Economy An ecological transformation of the economy with ecological and social retraining contracts in every industry sector which would allow 10 millions new jobs to be created within the next five years. Agricultural policy A European policy for ecological, country agriculture and wholesome food, absence of GMOs, 30% of organic and 100% of sustainable agriculture. Energy 100% clean energy from renewable sources with an ambitious project of European Renewables Community (ERENE). Health A European plan to fight against diseases of the way of life with application of the safety-first principle on nanotechnologies and a directive on electromagnetic radiation. Biodiversity Establishment of a green and blue European frame to protect biodiversity and to achieve sustainable fishing. Creation of a European coastguard body. Social Europe A European social shield with minimum and maximum wages defined, a moratory on liberalization and a clause against social decline. Rights and gender equality Respect of fundamental rights with a European residence citizenship right, a pact against exclusion and gender equality in every domain with the ‘Most Favoured European Woman Clause.’ Culture, education and research Promoting culture, education and research as Europe’s common goods. Against illiteracy and for a student social status at the European level. Doubling and redirecting research means towards a social and ecological redeployement. Europe and ethics A Europe of solidarity against tax havens and for the defence and respect of food supply sovereignty, the protection and restoration of great ecosystems destroyed by Western countries in Southern countries. European Green New Deal and democracy A new ‘European dream’ with a ‘Solidarity and Ecological Cooperation Pact’ to replace the ‘Stability and Growth Pact’, an Economic, Social and Financial Security Council to coordinate economic and social policies in the Eurozone. New Europe should be ambitiously financed with a 1000€ billion five-year loan and an increase of the EU budget from 0,87% of GDP to 2% of GDP. Speculative operations on currency exchanges rates would be regulated and taxed with the creation of a ‘Tobin zone’ (from the name of the Tobin Tax). At last, a new constituent process is required to start a European democracy and a real European citizenship.

PARTI SOCIALISTE

Parti Socialiste’s programme to change Europe (http://changerleurope.fr/notre-programme-pour-changer-l-europe) is summarized at the European level within the ‘European Elections 2009, Guide to the Manifestos of the European Parties and Political Groupings’ published by European Alternatives (pp. 10-14) - see top right of this page. The PES manifesto is, indeed, a unique document elaborated in common with all the European socialist parties, and as stated on the PS’ website, no other political grouping did effectively manage to put in common ambitions emanating from various contexts of socialist parties either in power or opposition in different European member states.

FRONT DE GAUCHE

The Front de Gauche, (http://www.frontdegauche.eu) sitting in the European Parliamentary Group of the European United Left and the Nordic Green Left, presents its programme through a declaration of principles for Europe’s change stressing that the context is of a historical crisis of capitalism. As a result of general deregulation conducted under pressure by multinational firms and political choices for profitability to the detriment of human consideration, there is a multidimensional crisis of the capitalist model of development at the origin of increasing inequalities, waste of natural resources, wars and conflicts in the world. The European Union is said to be engaged in that failing model of neoliberalism and there is a majority demand for Europe to change since 2005 in France. The threefold challenge for the Front de Gauche is to be useful for the peoples in a situation shaping itself as more and more terrible, to be able to win the battle of ideas on strategic choices to do so as to get to the root of the crisis, to manage to alert enough women and men to the choices which need to be done to open the prospect of change. The Front de Gauche wants to exploit the poll as a trial of strength between the French people and Nicolas Sarkozy. They are against the Lisbon Treaty, considered as contributing to the construction of Europe as a liberal democracy, and they want to assert a new vision of society and Europe based on general interest and sovereignty of the people at the national and European level. At the centre of that vision is feminism as a constitutive element of all social transformation. Social Europe Social requirement demands, on the one hand, transformation of the ECB to begin to serve populations and to be democratically controlled by the people. This implies renationalization of banking and credit systems. On the other hand, implementation of a European social shield is requested against redundancy plans, relocation and for an increase of wages, social minima, pensions and redefinition of a broad redistributive tax system. Sustainability and Agricultural Policy Ecological requirement calls for a new model of sustainable development, expansion of railway and leak transport, protection of natural environments, promoting of country smallholding, stopping of subsidies on ‘agrobusiness’, a moratory on GMOs, and an agricultural policy of food supply sovereignty. European democracy Democratic requirement expresses the need for change in the way European institutions currently circumvent the peoples. For the Front de Gauche, democracy is founded on citizenship, which has to be equal for women and men in the exercise of political responsibility. European Union and national policies must be under control of sovereign peoples. A secular Europe is conceived as a prerequisite to guarantee religious and philosophical freedom for its citizens, and solidarity and peace in international relations contrary to an alleged ‘clash of civilizations.’ International solidarity, migration policy and human rights There is a requirement of solidarity against social exclusion, precariousness, discrimination and xenophobia and for an effective equality of rights, especially in terms of asylum and migration policies to allow migrants from outside the EU to work, vote in the local and European elections, and their children to go to school, to sort out undocumented immigrants and to implement a real cooperation and co-development strategy, in particular with Africa. Peace requirement should keep Europe away from militaristic US policies and in favour of relaunching disarmament. An independent European foreign policy must be asserted outside NATO and based on international law with a strong engagement for peace in the Middle-East to re-establish East-Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian state grounded on frontiers delimited before June 1967.

Concluding analysis

A trend towards emphasis on national politics is hinted at in most of the parties’ programmes which, sadly too often, do not relate their propositions and campaign agendas to the European parties manifestos with which they are associated at the European level when they sit and vote legislations in the European Parliament (See European Alternatives Guide to the Manifestos). Nonetheless, if we were trying to find a general motto for this European parliamentary elections campaign in France it would be certainly refering to a need for Europe to change, with diversity of positions on how to achieve it among the left and right. Some identical points come across in many different manifestos such as the creation of a European social shield or the implementation of the ‘Most Favoured European Woman Clause’ launched during the French presidency of the EU thanks to the French feminist association ‘Choisir la cause des femmes’ (http://www.choisirlacausedesfemmes.org). To the right, very few concerns are expressed regarding human rights, immigrants rights and post-colonial politics whereas those issues are raised by all the parties from the centre to the far left. Worries about the Economy and a reform or regulation of the international financial system are present but scarcely examined from angles linking foreign relations, economy and European policies. The difficulty in finding differentiated propositions for European politics is to be explained in large part by the fact that European politicians are almost never called upon to explain themselves to the public and when they do, it is only to the national public which constitutes their electorate. The explanation of Europe is still left to national politicians, which has the consequence, very visible in France at the moment, that when Europe is talked about, it is often only the nation written large and given the name of Europe – for Sarkozy, it is clear that in his thinking, Europe means a larger France. The problem with this persistent nationalisation of the public sphere is that all question of alterity is evacuated from the signifier 'Europe' – when it is precisely the alterity implicit in the idea of Europe – a unity in diversity – which is its most promising aspect as a transformative power. The solutions to these problems is simply to promote the emergence of a transnational public sphere, and the elections would be a good place to start, given that they are still held to be the founding moment of the collectivity – the moment of the expression of general will. Transnational lists in the elections would mean candidates would have to campaign in different countries, for example.

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