[Chapter-delegates] EU Elections: Quick Note

[sivasubramanian muthusamy]

On Mon, May 27, 2019, 8:42 PM Frédéric Donck <donck at isoc.org> wrote:

> Dear All
>
> Please find herewith a quick analysis of the European Elections which took
> place yesterday (in the European Union)
>
> General:
>
> Unlike in the past, where the two main political forces in Europe – the
> European People’s Party (EPP) and the Party of European Socialists (PES/S&D
> Group) – did largely dominate the landscape, EU citizens have decided to
> elect a very fragmented Parliament.
> The biggest winners seem to be the Liberals, with 100+ seats, and the
> Greens who significantly gained at the expense of the left-wing (GUE/NGL)
> and S&D.
> Moreover, this weekend’s vote will have an impact on national-level
> governmental stability, with some countries (Slovakia and Greece) even
> looking now towards new elections.
> This increased uncertainty at European Council level will make the
> selection of EU top jobs over the coming months more complicated than ever.
>
> Details:
>
> 1. European voters literally decided to punish the two largest groups –
> EPP and S&D – and instead decided to give a chance to some other parties
> (from Green, to liberal, to far-right and populist).
> This is a clear break to the longstanding EPP/S&D dominance of the
> European Parliament from previous mandates.
> In addition, the « likely »  new progressive alliance of ALDE, S&D and
> Greens— this option is being discussed *now* when I’m writing those lines-
> with a total of around 325 MEPs might likely end up the EPP’s domineering
> position in the legislative arena.
>
> This might have an impact on the way the European Parliament might decide
> to manage some Internet related dossiers in the future as Greens and ALDE
> have always showed a great support to Privacy related issues as well as
> regulation of Internet Giants.
>
> 2. Far Right:


Some news channels talked about 'Center Right'.  In EU context how good is
the Center Right and to what extent does their gains represent a balance?

Populist and nationalist parties gained a lot of seats at these elections,
> but fewer than some had anticipated. The French National Rally (RN) and the
> Italian Lega came first in their respective countries, the Brexit Party
> dominated the vote in the UK and the Flemish far right (Vlaams Belang) made
> surprising gains in Belgium.
>
> 3. Green wave: The Greens are the biggest winners of these elections. With
> strong showings in Germany, where they came second with 22 seats, France
> (12), UK (11) and Belgium (3), Greens will be a force capable of
> influencing policies both in Brussels and increasingly so in national
> capitals.
>
> 4. Brexit
>
> While the results of the right-wing populists, ALDE and Greens may
> resemble victories, it is worth mentioning that those groups would be hit
> the hardest by Brexit.
> In fact, all Groups stand to lose the UK MEPs after Brexit, except the EPP
> which does not have a party in the UK.
> EPP will also benefit the most from the post-Brexit redistribution of the
> 27 seats
>
> Finally, nowhere have these elections been more tumultuous than in the UK.
> The Prime Minister Theresa May resigned on Friday, the morning after the
> polls were closed.
> The Brexit Party (likely to join the right-wing group with Lega) scored a
> big victory.
> However, the combined votes for parties advocating the UK remaining in the
> EU (Liberal Democrats, Greens and SNP) amount to *more* than the Brexit
> Party and UKIP together.
> This sets a backdrop for the coming weeks where Tories have to pick their
> new leader, who then needs to decide whether the country goes to a next
> election, a second Brexit referendum, tries again to pass the Brexit deal
> with the EU (or to negotiate some changes to the deal or another
> extension), or just simply crashes out of the EU.
> The political picture painted at these elections favors a pro-Brexit Tory
> leadership, naming the next Prime Minister without an election and overall,
> more uncertainty over Brexit in general.
>
>
> Best Regards
>
> Frédéric
>
> Frédéric Donck
> Director, European Regional Bureau
> Internet Society
>
> Office:
> Avenue du Dirigeable 17
> 1170 Brussels
> Belgium
>
> Direct Mail: donck at isoc.org
> Office : eubureau at isoc.org
>
> www.internetsociety.org
>
>
>
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