Guy Verhofstadt's intuition. The election of Jerzy Buzek to the presidency of the European Parliament in the first round by an overwhelming majority (555 votes versus 89 for Eva-Britt Svensson) came as no surprise. We have had much more controversial and complex elections in the past. The result in itself was practically a done deal with confirmation of the agreement between the EPP, Socialist and /Democrats groups on mid-term rotation. The scale of the vote, however, represents at the same time, in my opinion, the first success deriving from the principle introduced by Guy Verhofstadt, for a fundamental alliance between pro-European forces at the EP. In this parliament, we are aware that Eurosceptics and “anti-Europeans” are represented, and they generally speak together, in the same sense, whether they are from the far left or extreme right. The former Belgian prime minister's intuition was such that the forces in favour of Europe's unity should, on questions of principle, do the same, without, of course, abandoning, their specific positions on other subjects. In application of this principle, Mr Watson withdrew his candidacy, by inviting the Liberals and Democrats group, of which he was president during the previous legislature, to vote for Mr Buzek. The Greens group also very broadly supported Mr Buzek, as well as the four main groups of the renewed EP that voted together (with the exception of the French Socialists). These groups will vote separately on other dossiers but are expected to come together when progress in European construction is at stake. This was the aim of the alliance called for by Guy Verhofstadt.
What about the British Conservatives? The fourth largest political group, the CER (Conservatives and European Reformers), dominated by the British Conservatives, is striving to present itself as the natural ally of the EPP by proposing to support the EPP on one specific point: confirmation of Mr Barroso at the presidency of the European Commission. I don't think this tactic will pay off because the EPP has no intention of creating a stable alliance with an essentially eurosceptic group and even Mr Barroso himself is seeking much broader and wide ranging support. The pro-European alliance called for by Guy Verhofstadt has an altogether different and much more powerful attraction. It is not about nominating this or that person to preside over the Commission but rather to affirm the principle that the person chosen has to support the Community's aims and defend the autonomy and role of the institution itself. This is not the position of the CER, even if it should not be ruled out that next year, after the general elections in the United Kingdom, the British Conservatives could become less eurosceptic than they currently appear for electoral purposes. A symptom of this is that a British Conservative Edward McMillan-Scott, on his own initiative, presented his candidacy for the vice presidency, whereas, his group, in order to respect internal balances, had nominated Michal Kaminski from Poland, who had been elected on the lists of the Polish president's anti-European party. Mr McMillan-Scott obtained far more votes.
The voters have already spoken. The second candidate for the presidency of the parliament, Ms Britt-Svensson, was presented by the United and Nordic Left group, whose reactions to what has happened are almost surreal. This group is trying to portray the result obtained by Mr Buzek (voted in a single round, the first time this has happened in the history of the EP) as a consensus against the interest of European citizens, and invites voters to pass judgement on this choice made in Strasbourg. These voters did, in fact, speak out just a few weeks ago, as they also had, at a national level, previously (in one case, just a few days ago). It is patently obvious that certain political forces regret the political direction in which the majority of European nations are going and are fighting to overturn it, but for the moment the tide is going in the opposite direction. To claim to represent the people when the latter vote in the other direction, is a little naïve. Taking action to change opinion would be a more logical attitude to adopt.
The EU is not divided into two parties. I have not yet mentioned one of the affirmations that largely accompanied the triumphal appointment of Jerzy Buzek and which underlines the fact that for the first time, a member state from Eastern Europe is assuming one of the essential and most high profile roles in the Community institutions. I believe that the EU will be a real Union one day, where the distinction between old and new member states will have disappeared and the public will consider what happened last week as absolutely normal. The fact that the nationality of the new president has been highlighted so much perhaps signifies that for the moment, that time has not yet come. Developments, however, would suggest that this time is not far away.
(F.R./transl.rh)