Press review: European elections 2004

EU election headlines across Europe have been dominated by low turnout and the protest votes of EU citizens. EurActiv has produced a summary of their main conclusions.

In the United Kingdom, a high score for the the EU rejectionist party UKIP (UK Independence party) and Tony Blair's defeat was widely predicted in the pre-election surveys. The Labour party managed to pick up only 23 per cent of the votes, "its worst result since at least 1918," the Guardian indicated. For the Economist, the low voter turnout and flurry of good scores from eurosceptic parties will "may make it harder to reach agreement on the proposed EU constitution". The Times is even more pessimistic, saying "it would be better for Mr. Blair to help to block this text in the next few days than invite a humiliating loss at a more inconvenient date". The BBC's European affairs correspondent William Horsley says the protest vote across the EU may push the heads of government to water down some of their integrationist ambitions. For the BBC's Alexandra Fouché, it was a "subdued night" at the "defeated" European parliament.

In France, Le Monde speaks of a "European democratic setback" after the continent's unification on 1 May. Arnaud Leparmentier has harsh comments, saying that "the enlarged and disunited Europe has no project" and that "the voters are conforted in their indifference and absence of vision and European courage". Columnist Rafaële Rivais analyses the new parliament as having "no clear majority" and points out that "neither the conservatives of the EPP nor the socialists of the PSE can rule the Assembly alone" without forming alliances. She indicates that the new alliance of French, Italian and UK centrist and federalist parties could have an influence on the election of both presidents of the European Parliament and of the Commission. Libération's European columnist Jean Quatremer writes that the federalists are set to "sow discord" in the new parliament and points to the EPP's "doubtless loss of influence in the adjustment that is to take place". For its part, Le Figaro says that "nationalistic reflexes" will prevail in the new European Assembly as more of the new MEPs are concerned about defending national interest rather than political ideologies.

Amid speculations that the end is nigh for the Schröder government, commentators in the German media also look at the lessons to be learnt from the low voter participation in the European elections. The

Frankfurter Rundschauemphasises that the prospects for a European Constitution have never been so bleak. "The historic project of European integration needs a new, a decisive and democratic push," writes Martin Winter. To involve citizens in a serious dialogue about the future of the EU, he advocates referenda on the Constitution in all Member States. Cornelia Bolesch of the Süddeutsche Zeitungpoints to the bizarre situation of an EU caught in between the excitement of new developments (new Parliament, upcoming Summit, new Commission President) on one hand, and the indifference of the electorate on the other hand. "After the big emptiness of the ballot stations, the hectic hustle in the EU headquarters seems absurd. Why continue to reform if the foundations are breaking away?". The author calls for pro-Europeans to be realistic and to concentrate on protecting past achievements from the attacks of populists and eurosceptics rather than pushing ahead with further reforms.

Spain's, El Pais points to the new Parliament as not being very different from the previous one and also points to the necessity for both the EPP and socialists to forge alliances to win a majority. The columnist speaks of a "preoccupying cluster of MEPs from the populist far-right" and of a "scandalous abstention rate" requiring "an in-depth political reflexion that will oblige the pro-Europeans to cooperate on frequent occasions beyond left-right differences". As in other papers, the editorial in ABC points to the deal o the European Constitution as being made more complicated with the high number of abstention votes.

The Italian

Corriere della Seracalls into question the whole European project. "What else needs to happen, I wonder, for people to start suspecting that maybe the twenty-third hour has struck for the European idea?" asks Ernesto Galli della Loggia. "Europe is hypnotised by the pacifist virtue, bogged down in paralysed welfare systems, without any new idea for at least ten years, without vision capable of looking at the future, without courageous politicians - for what and for whom should the citizens have gone to vote?" For those hoping that a common currency might hold the EU together, the author cites the example of the Soviet Union: who would have predicted the collapse of the Soviet Union just six months before it happened?

The Polish

Rzeczpospolitais looking at the particulary low voter turnout in Poland, saying that "this is the next serious symptom of the citizens drifting away and becoming distant from politics". Bronislaw Wildstein writes that this is mainly down to the lack of knowledge about the competences of the EP, which are "constantly changing" and "not precise enough". He also blames the politicians for treating the European elections as some kind of test run for the upcoming general elections in Poland.

Belgium daily La Libre Belgique points to a protest vote against the incumbents, noting that the "leaders' fight" opposing Jean-Luc Dehaene (Christian democrat) and Guy Verhofstadt (liberal) in Flanders turned in favour of the former when the Walloons preferred Elio Di Rupo (Socialist) to Louis Michel (liberal).