Bored of the Primaries? Elections in Europe are more important
As is well known, 80% of the domestic regulation affecting our daily lives begins in Brussels, where it is passed or amended by the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers. This year, national elections are going to take place in Spain, Italy, Lithuania, Romania, Slovenia and Malta. Spain, Italy and Lithuania have centre-left governments that have taken a critical line on Anglo-American foreign policy, and support more rigorous regulation at the EU level. Romania, Slovenia and Malta have centre-right governments that are being challenged by the centre-left. Together these six governments control 84 votes out of 345 on the Council. This doesn't look like a lot, but consider that 88 votes on the Council are the required amount to form a "blocking minority" to prevent a qualified majority. Those 88 votes are then crucial, not just for blocking the appointment of Tony Blair as Council President (see my other recent post), but also for preventing agreement on legislation at the European level and for forcing through amendments to legislation.
It is easy to get sidetracked by the personality contest of the US elections, but do their outcome really affect our lives more tangibly than the outcome of the elections in Spain and Italy? Arguably no. While McCain, Obama and Clinton are all preferable to Bush, is there any real difference in policy between those candidates that affect us in the UK or elsewhere in Europe? Even if either of the two Democrats were committed to adopt tougher emissions regulations in response to climate change (something that no President is likely to attempt), she or he would be blocked by the Congress. On this subject alone, the difference between the US and EU is notable. The European Parliament and Council have constructed the world's toughest regulatory regime in environment policy. The divisions in Europe concerning the speed and radicalism of future measures means that nothing is certain and that the complexion of environmental preferneces among MEPs and governments on the Council of Ministers determines everything. For this reason, the forthcoming elections in Spain and Italy will determine whether or not an 88-votes blocking minority against toughter environmental standards will be more or less likely in the immediate future.
Dr Giacomo Benedetto
4 Comments
Reader Comments (4)
I agree with you completely. It is really difficult to get information about the elections contests going on in the EU outside of my home country. But there is no stop reporting about the US primaries.
I think this year it is especially strong, because the Democratic candidates (Hillary and Obama) are very interesting figures. But the amount of reporting has gotten totally out of hand.
Wow, a lot of spelling errors!
A corrected version:
It is really difficult to get information about the election contests going on in the EU outside of my home country. But there is non stop reporting about the US primaries.
I agree with you that we need to pay closer attention to European elections and that the public should be more aware of the Brussels 'soap opera'. But we shoudn't underestimate te power of a US President.
You just have to stop at a petrol station to realise how strongly an American President's decisions on foreign affairs can affect international oil prices and our daily lives.
The London Stock Exchange and other European bourses also indicate how much our economies are dependent on the well-being of the American economy.
But you mada a good point. Congratulations on the blog initiative!
It is quite true, our lives are influenced a lot by what happens at Brussels but I guess it is quite important for us to realize that. Also, it is notable the vision of the public opinion upon the European level, at least in Romania the public opinion views more favorably the politics at the European level than the one at the national level...