Europe’s voters turn backs on EU

BRUSSELS – Europe’s voters turned their backs on most serving governments and EU institutions in European Parliament elections marked by mass abstentions and protest votes on domestic issues, results showed yesterday.

As counting in the biggest transnational election in history neared a finish, the scale of public alienation highlighted challenges facing EU leaders when they meet later this week to try to finalise a first constitution for the bloc. “Across Europe we have seen sitting governments receive significant protest votes against them,” British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said before starting a final round of pre-summit constitution negotiations in Luxembourg.”One clear message is that voters across Europe, including in the United Kingdom, want a European Union that works better in their interests.That’s the purpose of the draft constitutional treaty,” he said.But the huge protest vote against British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Labour Party, and gains for Eurosceptics in Poland, the Czech Republic and Sweden, raised doubts about whether the new charter will ever be ratified.Britain is fighting to preserve national vetoes in core areas while Poland, the biggest of 10 new members, is resisting a change in the EU voting system that would diminish its power.A mere 45,3 per cent of nearly 350 million eligible voters bothered to cast ballots in the four-day exercise in cross-border democracy, the lowest turnout since direct elections for the Strasbourg-based assembly began in 1979.The most startling figure was that participation in the EU’s 10 new, mainly ex-communist east European member states was just 26 per cent.Parliament spokesman David Harley called it a “disappointing and pathetically low turnout”.The European Commission said the main reason was that the European Parliament had too little power, while Estonian Foreign Minister Kristiina Ojuland said it showed that neither old nor new EU citizens understood the legislature’s growing role.For some, the low poll could undermine the assembly’s legitimacy.”Of course I would have appreciated it very much if we had a stronger legitimation of parliament,” German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer lamented.British voters punished Blair for his role in the US-led Iraq war and governing parties in France, Germany and Poland for economic stagnation, unemployment and painful social reforms.The UK Independence Party, which won its first three seats in 1999, grabbed 12 this time, while opposition parties in Poland, including the populist Self Defence and the League of Catholic Families, beat the ruling Socialists into fourth place.The overall balance in the European Parliament, which has growing powers over EU spending, financial regulation, food safety and environmental rules, was little changed.The centre-right European People’s Party was set to remain the biggest group with 272 of the 732 seats, the Socialists came second with 200, the Liberals third with 67 and the Greens fourth with 42.- Nampa-Reuters”Across Europe we have seen sitting governments receive significant protest votes against them,” British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said before starting a final round of pre-summit constitution negotiations in Luxembourg.”One clear message is that voters across Europe, including in the United Kingdom, want a European Union that works better in their interests.That’s the purpose of the draft constitutional treaty,” he said.But the huge protest vote against British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Labour Party, and gains for Eurosceptics in Poland, the Czech Republic and Sweden, raised doubts about whether the new charter will ever be ratified.Britain is fighting to preserve national vetoes in core areas while Poland, the biggest of 10 new members, is resisting a change in the EU voting system that would diminish its power.A mere 45,3 per cent of nearly 350 million eligible voters bothered to cast ballots in the four-day exercise in cross-border democracy, the lowest turnout since direct elections for the Strasbourg-based assembly began in 1979.The most startling figure was that participation in the EU’s 10 new, mainly ex-communist east European member states was just 26 per cent.Parliament spokesman David Harley called it a “disappointing and pathetically low turnout”.The European Commission said the main reason was that the European Parliament had too little power, while Estonian Foreign Minister Kristiina Ojuland said it showed that neither old nor new EU citizens understood the legislature’s growing role.For some, the low poll could undermine the assembly’s legitimacy.”Of course I would have appreciated it very much if we had a stronger legitimation of parliament,” German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer lamented.British voters punished Blair for his role in the US-led Iraq war and governing parties in France, Germany and Poland for economic stagnation, unemployment and painful social reforms.The UK Independence Party, which won its first three seats in 1999, grabbed 12 this time, while opposition parties in Poland, including the populist Self Defence and the League of Catholic Families, beat the ruling Socialists into fourth place.The overall balance in the European Parliament, which has growing powers over EU spending, financial regulation, food safety and environmental rules, was little changed.The centre-right European People’s Party was set to remain the biggest group with 272 of the 732 seats, the Socialists came second with 200, the Liberals third with 67 and the Greens fourth with 42.- Nampa-Reuters