Paris, 04/06/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 3 June in Paris, the “Our Europe” think tank organised a conference on European political parties a few days before the European elections on 4-7 June.
According to Jean Quatremer, a journalist at Libération who was chairing the debate, the expected high level of abstentions should be seen in the context of the absence of an election campaign. In France, in particular, there has been a terrible lack of debate. The elections have more often been used to look at national and not European challenges. In France, the European elections have been used as a pretext for parties like the PS and Modem to lead an “anti-Sarkozy referendum” instead of speaking about Europe. Consequently, according to the polls, voter turnout is only expected to include a third of the registered electorate.
Asked about their vision of Europe, the speakers all affirmed their support for a strong and united political Europe. Harlém Désir, the vice-president of the Socialist Group at the EP, went even further and described himself as a “federalist”. Pierre Lequiller, the former vice-president of the European People's Party also supported a political Europe and praised the results achieved by the French Presidency of the EU (second half of 2008). According to Lequiller, action taken by France meant that during the conflict in Georgia, Europe spoke with a single voice. This affirmation was refuted by other participants, as was his description of the current Czech Presidency, as being “not quite as good as the French”.
The choice of who would be the next European Commission president was also debated. Everyone, apart from Pierre Lequiller, called for a new president to replace José Manuel Barroso. According to Philippe Lamberts, the European Greens Party spokesperson, they should choose someone who really does represent Europe's interests and who is “a leader and not a follower, like Barroso”. Mr Lamberts also questioned the modalities used for appointing the president of the Commission. According to Lamberts, the president should be elected by the European Parliament, without a proposal being made by the European Council. He affirmed that some MEPs should be voted for on a genuine European list. Harlem Désir called for the right to a political changeover between the parties and supported the idea of a Commission president directly elected by Parliament.
On the question of the European budget, the Greens, the European Socialist Party and the European Democratic Party reached an agreement on the need for a European tax, which would replace part of the national tax whilst avoiding taxing citizens too highly. Annemie Neyt-Uyttebroeck, the president of the European Liberal Democrats, also accepted this idea but only in a personal capacity. With the exception of Pierre Lequiller, everyone believed that the EU should have its own funds and increase its budget, which currently stands at 1% of the EU27's Gross National Income (GNI). (L.P./transl.rh)