Nur weiter so, Europa! (Just keep it up, Europe!) Die Zeit - 08/06/2009 In his article published on Monday, June 8th, 2009, Joachim Fritz-Vannahme refutes the idea that the last European elections enhanced Europe’s democratic-legitimacy deficit. First, being able to say “no” to elections is a fundamental democratic right. Second, considering that elections in which 160 million European citizens went to vote are undemocratic is bold. Third, the EU elections primarily reflect national concerns and different national political cultures, rather than the alleged unpopularity of Europe. The author further sums up the EU-wide results: the Socialists and Social-democrats lost about a quarter of their MEPs, the European People’s Party (EPP), although still the most weighty party in the European Parliament, is now composed of various political tendencies – from secessionists to Christian-democrats, and finally the Green Party gained considerable power. Additionally, the EP is now clearly “crazier” and more “colourful” then ever, with all these new single-subject parties gaining a seat. For Fritz-Vannahme, this new composition of the EP will however not necessarily weaken the institution. On the contrary, European citizens might get more motivated to defend Europe against its “enemies” in Parliament, while no EP party can rationally wish the institution of which it is now part to loose all the power and influence that it gained over the past years. The problem of non-voters however remains, and the author makes various suggestions about how to get EU citizens more concerned about the EP elections, all tending to enhance the democratic character of its “executive”. Finally, Fritz-Vannahme emphasizes the fact that national parties do still play a fundamental role in all three major EU institutions, and that Europe remains omnipresent at national level: therefore, the Bundestag elections in the fall might very well be considered as the next “European elections”. Joachim Fritz-Vannahme is European correspondent at Die Zeit since 1999. To read the full Die Zeit article click here. Back to German Press on Europe