by Belén Góngora Martínez Overview Most newspapers argue that the election campaign started with political demotivation and dissatisfaction. Moreover, the poor election campaign from political parties does not help to make these elections closer to citizens. People do not feel represented in the European institutions; instead they think that national politics affects their daily life in a highly decentralised country like Spain. Spaniards lack sufficient political culture to understand the positions of the different political parties at transnational level and these parties do not make any effort to give this election a transnational emphasis. Indeed, it is still in many Spaniards’ minds that Spain could be a modern and developed ‘Western’ country, due to the structural funds of the EU, which put an end to the economic, social and political isolation of the dictatorship. For instance, Francisco Sosa Wagner, the UPyD candidate claims that it is ‘treason’ that citizens do not show any interest in the European elections when Spain has been benefiting from the solidarity of the EU. But this has not stopped an increasing process of disenchantment with European politics. Andreu Misse, the El País Brussels correspondent, writes how the European Parliament makes governments and the European Commission uncomfortable due to an increasing political influence and it creates disaffection among citizens. According to Misse, the Parliament has created a generalised feeling of discomfort due to the ambiguities in the European project (such as the response to the “shameful” Return Directive) and this, in turn, is related to the poor participation rates during the past elections, dropping from 63% in 1979 to 45.7% in 2004. In the same vein, Alfonso Botti, a contemporary historian, relates the EU response to the global economic crisis to the drop in Spanish pro-European attitude, and to a poor turnout at the polls on 7 June. He also supports the view that Europeans seem to be ‘[d]epoliticised, conservative, leaderless, closed within different identities’. In a similar way, Luis Bassest, a journalist from El Pais, argues that this discomfort is reflected in the loss of trust in European institutions, including the Commission and the European Central Bank. More than that, he defines Spain as ‘eurosceptical’ and argues that the abstention threats the future of Europe. Spain, always a pro-European country, is getting closer and closer to the most ‘eurosceptical’ countries. An uneven participation rate since 1987, shows that the pro-European rhetoric has waned, and the ignorance about the next elections is striking. Read ‘Empieza la carrera europea con gran insatisfacción política y un empate entre PSOE-PP’ by Jordi Barbeta (22/05/2009): http://www.lavanguardia.es/politica/noticias/20090522/53707658387/empieza-la-carrera-europea-con-gran-insatisfaccion-politica-y-un-empate-entre-psoe-pp-ceo-mariano-ra.html El País (the most widely-circulated daily newspaper in Spain) has a special section for the European elections, where most articles are related with accusations between the two main political parties regarding issues that have nothing to do with the elections or with Europe. There are, however, efforts to understand the positions of the different political parties regarding the EP elections. In an editorial article, for instance, seven key questions about Spain and the EU are asked to the 6 main representatives of the political parties . These key questions are related to climate change (and the role of Spain and Europe to tackle it), the future of nuclear power; mass regularisation programmes and the period of detention of immigrants before being returned; universal jurisdiction (International Criminal Court); the acceptance of Guantanamo prisoners in Spain; the fight against terrorism and dialogue with terrorist organisations to achieve peace. However, the answers of the different representatives focus on the Spanish affairs, with little reference to the abovementioned issues that transcend national borders. Read 'Elecciones muy poco europeas' (22/05/2009): http://www.elperiodico.com/default.asp?idpublicacio_PK=46&idioma=CAS&idnoticia_PK=614705&idseccio_PK=1006&h Read Entrevista Francisco Sosa Wagner, Candidato de UPyD a las elecciones europeas (13/01/2009): http://eleccioneseuropeas2009.blogspot.com/2009/01/francisco-sosa-wagner-de-upd-creo-en.html Read ‘On the Eve of the European Vote: Between Economic Crisis and Search for an International Role, while the Socialist Leadership is Staring to Wear Thin’ by Alfonso Botti: http://www.europressresearch.eu/upload/pdf/PDF%20%20ING%20Analisi%20SPAGNA%20mar-apr%2009..pdf Read ‘Un poder cada vez más irritante’ by Andreu Misse (24/05/2009): http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/poder/vez/irritante/elpeleeur/20090524elpepinac_8/Tes and ‘El desdén de los europeos’ by Lluis Bassets (16/04/2009) http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/desden/europeos/elpepiint/20090416elpepiint_2/Tes Read ‘La abstención amenaza el futuro europeo’ by Lluis Bassets (16/04/2009): http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/abstencion/amenaza/futuro/europeo/elpepiint/20090416elpepiint_1/Tes Read ‘Siete interrogantes sobre el futuro de Europa’ (30/05/2009): http://www.elpais.com/articulo/espana/INTERROGANTES/FUTURO/EUROPA/elpepunac/20090530elpepinac_5/Tes During an interview with Francisco Aldecoa (Dean of the School of Political and Social Sciences in Madrid) and Melchor Mirailles (director of VEO TV), the same issues of lack of information and disaffection were identified as main problems. Both agree that today’s Europe is the best one we have ever had, but there is no polity in Europe and there are no instruments to make citizens engaged to the EU institutions. Mirailles is highly critical and relates the non-existent debate about Europe in Spain to the lack of information about Europe. This information problem is created by national and transnational institutions which fear that more information will lead people to question the European project. Journalists and citizens are “depressed” because there is no debate about Europe and it is always the bipolar debate about Spain, the same story again and again. Listen ‘Qué se vota en las elecciones europeas’ (20/05/2009) http://www.rtve.es/mediateca/audios/20090520/que-vota-las-elecciones-europeas-dias-como-hoy/508779.shtml On 25/05/2009 the first debate about European elections between the representatives of the two main parties took place. During this debate, the most repeated word was Spain. Although this debate was supposed to be about Europe, reference to Europe and European policies were simply missing. It has been said that both politicians lost the opportunity to raise awareness about Europe and the significance of the EP in the Spanish politics (bearing in mind that 70% of the laws passed at the Spanish Parliament are dependent on directions from the EU). The debate was focused on domestic issues -such as economic crisis, unemployment rate , abortion- with the typical reproaches and arguments. The interventions did not add anything new from the electoral manifestos of the parties. Even the former Prime Minister, Felipe Gonzalez, regrets that during the European elections, “Europe”, its institutions, its future, and its role are rarely mentioned. Read ‘Análisis del primer debate sobre las elecciones europeas’ by Ibiza Melian (28/05/2009): http://el-liberalismo.com/politica/analisis-del-primer-debate-sobre-las-elecciones-europeas Read ‘Felipe González lamenta que durante las elecciones europeas "se hable poco de Europa"’ (25/05/2009): http://ecodiario.eleconomista.es/politica/noticias/1274541/05/09/Felipe-Gonzalez-lamenta-que-durante-las-elecciones-europeas-se-hable-poco-de-Europa.html Opinions Iñaki Gabilondo, a well-known journalist, defines the current political campaign in Spain as ‘political desertification’ because of the exchange of denunciations between political parties: the ideas and the proposals are buried under a ‘mountain of rubbish’ thrown by political parties (corruption accusations, and scandals among others). In an ironic way, Gabilondo claims that it is completely useless to try to make Spaniards interested in the European elections. It has also no use to underline the fact that 3 out of 4 of Spanish laws are passed at European level: the idea of Europe is boring and abstention rises every day. Citizens are disinterested and political parties only promote the ‘useful vote’. Indeed, Jordi Barbeta, a journalist, explains that according to public surveys the turnout at the polls will be mainly motivated by the ‘punishment vote’ against the government or the opposition. Watch ‘Prosigue la campaña electoral’ (27/05/2009): http://www.cuatro.com/noticias/videos/prosigue-campana-electoral/20090527ctoultpro_58/ http://www.cuatro.com/noticias/videos/opinion-gabilondo-25-mayo/20090525ctoultpro_47/ 25/07/2009 As Sami Nair -a French political philosopher- explains, these European elections could have been the opportunity to finally begin the debate on the fundamental questions about the future of Europe: is there an end for the democratic crisis in Europe? Can Europeans implement common public policies? How can we reduce and eliminate economic differences among Europeans? What is the role of Europe at a time of geopolitical reorganisation? He argues that the political debate has been deplorable almost everywhere. Although many have been talking about ‘Europe’, its significance has rarely been discussed as an entity beyond the nation-state. The election campaign has not generated new or innovative ideas. Intellectuals, on the other hand, are more silent than ever, since their old ideas of ‘confederation’ or ‘constitutional federalism’ have been annihilated by increasingly real globalisation. Read ‘El no debate europeo’ by Sami Nair (30/05/2009): http://www.elpais.com/articulo/internacional/debate/europeo/elpepiint/20090530elpepiint_14/Tes Conclusion: lack of discussion of transnational issues This brief analysis of opinions and ideas during the election campaign across Spanish media is rather discouraging. There are many issues regarding the European project and many key transnational issues that should be debated and discussed passionately by political parties, civil society organisations and citizens. This is simply missing in Spain. Lack of information, disaffection, disinterest and lack of a real debate about key issues that affect us all are interwoven. At the end little is being done to stop Spain joining the group of eurosceptics.