Europe's political choice.

AuthorRasmussen, Poul Nyrup
PositionEuropean Parliament election

It goes without saying that the financial and economic crisis will be the key political issue for months, if not years to come, and will impact on elections around continent. And it also goes without saying that this includes the European Parliament election.

There is a strong case for saying that the crisis will make this seventh European election the most political ever. This is because the crisis has shown two very different ways of running Europe, giving voters a political choice of unprecedented clarity.

Market-led Europe

Over the 2004-09 mandate, the right has been in power in a majority of EU member states. It has therefore had a majority in the EU Council. It also has a majority in the European Parliament and in the European Commission, whose President, Jose Manuel Barroso, is a conservative.

No one can say that the right--European conservatives and liberals--has not had the political capital to take Europe in a positive direction. But what has it done with this opportunity? Did it address rising energy and food prices? Did it fight poverty and inequalities? Is Europe fairer than it was five years ago? Did it support the left's initiatives to deliver more and better jobs?

Instead, the right wasted its opportunity by pursuing a policy of blind faith in the market, creating a Europe which is more divided, more unequal, less coherent than before, heading towards eighty million people in poverty or at risk of poverty--many of them children--and twenty-five million unemployed.

Even before the onset of the financial crisis, the right used its leading position to undermine social and environmental legislation under the mantra of 'the invisible hand of the market'. It created divides between different parts of the continent by failing to ensure a fair deal for all. It responded to the challenges of globalisation by encouraging a race to the bottom in social standards and blocking and weakening moves by the left on issues ranging from working hours, fair pay and decent conditions to public services, accessible education and financial regulation.

This alone shows that the right is not fit to lead Europe, but since the start of the financial and economic crisis the proof has become even stronger. Not only did the right's support for unfettered markets exacerbate the effects of the market failures that provoked the crisis, but they also made Europe's economy and citizens more vulnerable to the economic fallout.

Now more than ever we need strong social policies and public services to cushion people losing their jobs, faced with the ever-present risk of home repossessions and an ever-greater struggle to make ends meet. For example, it is those in precarious jobs, the sort of jobs favoured by the neo-liberals, that are hit first and hit hardest by economic contraction.

What's more, the right has failed to deliver the bold leadership and recovery...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT