Vote Now in EU Elections - How & Why

[Ryan_m_b]

This is a reminder to all EU citizens that voting for European Parliament elections starts tomorrow!

Check here for the relevant date in your country: http://www.elections2014.eu/en/news-room/infographics

And here for relevant info on the various EU parties (just to note which one the national parties are members on): http://www.elections2014.eu/en/european-political-parties

In the UK there's been a lot more talk about EU elections than in previous years, mostly due to a rise in nationalist parties like UKIP that want to leave the EU and the current government's attempt to appease this movement by offering a referendum on membership at some point in the next few years (conveniently after a general election).

 

[DrGreg]

In the UK there's been a lot more talk about EU elections than in previous years, mostly due to a rise in nationalist parties like UKIP that want to leave the EU and the current government's attempt to appease this movement by offering a referendum on membership at some point in the next few years (conveniently after a general election).

Unfortunately the UK parties seem to be mostly talking about what they would do in the UK parliament if they won next year's general election, and not about what their EuroMPs would do in the European parliament if they won tomorrow's election.

 

[Borek]

Unfortunately the UK parties seem to be mostly talking about what they would do in the UK parliament if they won next year's general election, and not about what their EuroMPs would do in the European parliament if they won tomorrow's election.

Don't think it is just UK thing. One of the election clips emitted lately by PiS says "we have plan to make additional 1.2 million of jobs". Hello? And you are going to do it through EU parliament?

The longer I live the more often I think about an old Jew that came to a map shop to plan his emigration. How took a globe and looked carefully at each continent, then put the globe on the counter and asked clerk "Don't you have another one?". Sigh. That's how I feel.

 

[tridianprime]

I am not in support of UKIP, and am not old enough to vote. However, I thought that anyone interested in what UKIP wants (mentioned above), as far as the EU is concerned, can have a look here:

http://ukineurope.com/ukip.html

-Sam

 

[Ryan_m_b]

Unfortunately the UK parties seem to be mostly talking about what they would do in the UK parliament if they won next year's general election, and not about what their EuroMPs would do in the European parliament if they won tomorrow's election.

It is quite difficult to get European related manifestos, better explanations can be found on party websites though rather than press releases.

 

[lisab]

Don't think it is just UK thing. One of the election clips emitted lately by PiS says "we have plan to make additional 1.2 million of jobs". Hello? And you are going to do it through EU parliament?

The longer I live the more often I think about an old Jew that came to a map shop to plan his emigration. How took a globe and looked carefully at each continent, then put the globe on the counter and asked clerk "Don't you have another one?". Sigh. That's how I feel.

It would be really bad if you felt that way looking at a picture of the Milky Way .

 

[Ryan_m_b]

Don't think it is just UK thing. One of the election clips emitted lately by PiS says "we have plan to make additional 1.2 million of jobs". Hello? And you are going to do it through EU parliament?

Out of interest has there been a rise in anti-Euro parties in your neck of the woods?

 

[Borek]

Out of interest has there been a rise in anti-Euro parties in your neck of the woods?

Hard to say. IMHO no, even if some of the polls so far can suggest it.

There is a shift in the direction of PiS, and part of their electorate is definitely EU skeptic, but I would not call PiS an anti-EU party. There is a new party built around Janusz Korwin-Mikke (he is present on the political scene since 1989, but only one of his several parties ever got to Polish parliament). They are definitely anti-EU, and as of now it is not clear whether they will get past the minimum number of votes (some polls put them above, some under), but I don't think their rise in the popularity is related to their anti-EU stance, I guess it is more related to the fact people are looking for some new force that would be able to break current system with two parties (PO & PiS) dominating everything. In the long run Korwin-Mikke is way too controversial to get more voters.

I think in general being in EU is way too beneficial for us now (with EU funds) for anti-EU parties to get high popularity.

 

[DrClaude]

Out of interest has there been a rise in anti-Euro parties in your neck of the woods?

In Sweden, there are basically two parties which are against the EU, the Sweden Democrats (extreme right) and the June List. The latter is not very important (~1 %), while SvD is currently polling at 6,7 %, significantly lower than their historical high at ~10 % a year ago.

Many other parties that are not anti-EU are nevertheless still against the euro.

 

[mheslep]

I am not in support of UKIP, and am not old enough to vote. However, I thought that anyone interested in what UKIP wants (mentioned above), as far as the EU is concerned, can have a look here:

http://ukineurope.com/ukip.html

-Sam

UKIP's take on UKIP
http://www.ukip.org/issues

 

[Ryan_m_b]

@Borek and DrClaude it seems the situation is similar. Parties like UKIP (a very anti-EU party) have got a lot of popularity and press but they don't even have a single MP. I think a lot of people are sick of the main parties here which, along with recent bad times, is spurring popularity of more radical parties. We might technically have three main parties but power just swings from conservatives to labour (with the recent con/lib coalition being the first since the second world war).

 

[tridianprime]

@Borek and DrClaude it seems the situation is similar. Parties like UKIP (a very anti-EU party) have got a lot of popularity and press but they don't even have a single MP. I think a lot of people are sick of the main parties here which, along with recent bad times, is spurring popularity of more radical parties. We might technically have three main parties but power just swings from conservatives to labour (with the recent con/lib coalition being the first since the second world war).

Hmmm, yes. That press is often negative though. However, you're right and UKIP are clearly getting higher in the polls (see below).

I found this which I think is of interest in this topic. It contains a number of polls in the UK about the European Elections: http://ukpollingreport.co.uk/european-elections

 

[cobalt124]

One opinion on the BBC website is saying (based on simultaneous local, not EU election results) that in UKIP we are witnessing the birth of a "fourth political force":

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-27534191

 

[AlephZero]

First, the UK electorate doesn't take local politics very seriously. The average turnout in these elections is estimated at only about 36%. And second, since the local and EU elections are on the same day, it's reasonable to assume that the UKIP eurosceptic votes will spill over into the local election votes.

The last "surge" in UKIP EU votes collapsed in the following UK parliamentary elections.

Half way through the results declarations for local elections, UKIP have won about 100 seats out of 2200. IMO that's hardly a "fourth political force", unless you are a news reporter looking for a story.

 

[mheslep]

@Borek and DrClaude it seems the situation is similar. Parties like UKIP (a very anti-EU party) have got a lot of popularity and press but they don't even have a single MP. ...

UKIP has a very vocal MEP from the UK, Farage. Currently UKIP leads both Labor and Conservative for EU elections.

 

[Czcibor]

@Borek and DrClaude it seems the situation is similar.

http://www.pewglobal.org/2014/05/12...n-parliament-elections/pg-2014-05-12-eu-0-03/

The general idea yes, but the numbers are different. I mean there is a 20 percentage point difference in opinion pools about the EU between Poland and the UK.

However, in Poland because of low turnover some crazy outcomes of this low priority voting are also possible.

 

[Ryan_m_b]

UKIP has a very vocal MEP from the UK, Farage. Currently UKIP leads both Labor and Conservative for EU elections.

Yes I'm we'll aware that the UKIP leader is an MEP. Given that the EU elections use PR voting it's not surprising that non-main parties get MEPs. I agree with AlephZero though that calling UKIP a fourth political power is at best premature but mostly just sensationalising.

 

[AlephZero]

I guess the BBC has a problem here, because they traditionally cover UK election results "live" but this time the event drags on from overnight on Thursday when the first local election results were declared, through till Sunday and the EU election results.

Another BBC non-news story to fill in the time:

UKIP's strong showing in the local elections, and possible triumph in the poll to elect members of the European parliament, is an event of economic significance.

Unfortunately I am not sure quite what the impact will be, and that is not just because I am too dim...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27536873

 

[Czcibor]

Anyway I think that in Poland we reached a kind of funny paradox with views of more nationalist electorate. Presumably in this moment if asked they'd say:
-the EU integration went already too far;
-the EU should operated as single entity while making a gas deals with Russia and presumably the EU should even build its own army.

:D