Interview: Eurosceptics will not gain ground in EU elections[fr][de] 

Taking stock of the results of elections in the German federal state of Hesse last week, in which Eurosceptics from the extreme left only gained 0.2% on previous poll results, Alvaro said right and left-wing nationalistic views will be short-lived. But he conceded that they will spark debate and bring more people to the polls. 

Germany, which has just embarked on a hectic electoral year featuring eight polls, will probably see a boost in voter turnout at the EU elections, believes Alvaro. The MEP pointed out that local elections on the same day will cause more people to cast their ballot. 

But enlargement and recent referenda in Ireland, France and the Netherlands have also boosted interest in the European Union, Alvaro maintains. "People are more aware that the Union exists," he said, underlining the growing interest of young people in issues discussed at intergovernmental and international level. 

"They see that only if we are united can we fight climate change [or] work on the energy crisis, on the financial crisis [or] be of substantial help in Gaza," the MEP said. "I think that they have realised that the European Union is their political future, and they want to become involved," he added. 

For the first time, social media will allow candidates to create more direct links with their electorate. But "Europeans are not Americans," stressed Alvaro, who is gathering supporters on online social networking service Facebook. According to the German MEP, Europeans are still more interested in picking up a newspaper. "We are going to give it a try, but it will surely have a different impact than the one we saw in the US elections. We just have different cultural ways of doing political campaigning," he said. 

Alvaro said he will campaign widely on issues he knows best and that he has covered for the past five years as ALDE coordinator in the Parliament's committee on civil liberties, justice and home affairs. But he will also call for better policy coherence and working methods. 

"In the last couple of years, [we have noticed] that a lot of measures we have put in place help the so-called fight against terrorism, but have significantly limited fundamental freedoms. Worst, people are not much aware that this is happening. We have restrictions and limitations on the freedom of speech, on the freedom of movement, or the right to privacy," he said, arguing that the time is right for the EU to adopt a more multidisciplinary approach. 

As MEPs, "we should not focus on our small world," he said. "A lot of policy areas are linked. So rather than have 100 experts on home affairs, we shoud have 20 experts form different policy areas discussing problems form that point of view," Alvaro concluded, stating that a bit more "intellectual creativity in politics would be nice".

To read the interview in full, please click here.