Interview: Lib Dems vow to return to doorstep politics[fr][de] 

According to Clegg, the aim of the party's 'One Million Door Challenge' is to get party activists from every political level "out on the doorstep in the communities, villages, towns and cities of the United Kingdom," in order to explain to voters "directly and in person" what they stand for at European and national elections.

The Lib Dem leader believes the key to re-engaging the "millions of British and European citizens" who are "just turning their back on politics altogether" is a combination of doorstep politics and innovative use of modern Internet technologies. 

"I think it's very much marrying the old and the new. In a sense, it's a return to an old-fashioned, face-to-face form of politics, but it's also recognising the much more diverse way in which people now receive their information," he said. 

Clegg, a former MEP, admitted that his experiences on UK doorsteps showed a greater sense of apathy among British voters towards Europe and the European project than towards national issues. However, he also noted that this apathy was indicative of a "crisis of legitimacy" at all political levels. 

The Lib Dem leader also said "the uncertainty concerning the Lisbon Treaty has been enormously damaging to the image and credibility of the EU". "I hope that we can all play a role in persuading the Irish people to vote for the treaty" in the new 2009 referendum, he added. 

Regarding UK Lib Dem colleague Andrew Duff's proposal for transnational European elections to be put in place for 2014 (EurActiv 13/10/08), the Liberal Democrat leader described the suggestion as "a very understandable long-term ambition". 

Nevertheless, he was quick to stress that while he liked the idea, European politicians would need to be realistic in the short term. "You've got to talk to people in terms which are relevant to them. For example, campaigning on a doorstep in Leicester on behalf of a Greek candidate they've never heard of and whose name they probably have difficulty in pronouncing: I just don't think that's the best way to get people out to vote in a European election. One step at a time." 

Finally, Clegg expressed his belief that the recent global economic and financial crises might give people stronger cause to believe in collective EU action and, as a result, turn out in greater numbers next June. But this would only happen "if politicians spell out very clearly what the link is between the decisions which are taken" at EU level and speak of "direct benefits to them and their families," he explained. "If you don't do that, I think the fear remains that many people just won't turn out to vote at all," he said. 

To read the interview in full, please click here.