This Is the Year that Europe Chooses: Union or Disunion

Will the EU choose to face its demons as a front, or will the far-right convince member states that they're stronger on their own?

The European elections are coming up this summer, which means that the almost 450 million people in the EU get to decide who will represent them and their interests in the European parliament. Tensions on the political playing field are high, with the far-right doing well in projections while the current largest parties are predicted to suffer losses. Attitudes towards controversial topics such as aid to Ukraine and the climate crisis are shifting in the run-up to the elections in an attempt to hold on to votes, but what does this means for the future of Europe?

Between June 6^th and 9^th, Europeans get to cast their vote for who will represent them as European Members of Parliament (MEP’s). These elections occur once every five years, and in 2024, 720 MEP’s will be elected. These elections are rather important, since the European parliament shapes and decides on new laws in the European Union, together with representatives of the governments of EU countries. In other words, these elections heavily influence what life in the EU will look like the coming years.

On the other side of the Atlantic, the USA is also awash in political campaigns as Americans are making up their minds about who to vote for.

Emma de Ruiter

wrote about those elections last week.

The far-right voice is growing stronger

Should far-right parties become as big as the polls predict, European policy would be heavily influenced by their rhetoric, which commonly is anti-Europe, anti-migration, and anti-green. Even if the centre-right, which is currently projected to become the biggest, refuses to form a coalition with such parties, they will still be able to significantly impact European policy. “The far-right can win without winning if what happens is the centre-right takes on all of their rhetoric and their policies”, said Hans Kundnani, author of Eurowhiteness, to Politico. “Especially on these questions about their policies, about identity, and immigration and Islam.”

What’s more, besides the European parliament, the far right’s voice is growing stronger in the European Council as well. Together with the parliament, it’s the EU’s main decision-making body and its members are the heads of government of EU member states. Italy’s far-right prime minister Giorgia Meloni has already entered the council, as well as Hungary’s Viktor Orbán.

Influence on Ukraine

This shift towards far-right rhetoric can already be seen in current actions by the European parliament. This Wednesday, the Parliament voted to restrict some food imports from Ukraine, making a one-year extension of the duty-free status of the country more difficult. This duty-free status was granted as an act of solidarity with Ukraine after the invasion of Russia two years ago. Because of the vote, the package is subject to another round of negotiations between the European Commission, the Council, and the Parliament, scheduled for March 19.

The measures have been renewed twice already, both times for a period of one year. But European farmers claim to be disadvantaged by the cheap Ukrainian exports. It seems the Parliament caved and decided not to renew the package in an attempt to appease the farmers. The Commission proposed to limit the amount of sugar, poultry, and eggs that could be exported from Ukraine to the EU at the levels of 2022-2023. This proposition came after a push by Eastern EU governments, even though evidence that these products were damaging to the EU’s economy was lacking.

Yet MEP’s in the agriculture committee went even further and voted to amend the proposition to also include various cereals. Strangely, these have been entering the EU duty-free ever since at least 2016 and were thus not part of the act of solidarity spurred by the outbreak of war. Should the package be amended in this way, Ukraine’s already damaged economy would suffer greatly. “2022 was already a really bad year for us”, said Kyiv’s trade minister Taras Kachka to Politico. “Our logistics were destroyed, our seaports were blocked.” These restrictions wouldn’t help the European farmers either, he thinks. “Limiting the presence of Ukrainian products on the EU market will only lead to an increase in imports from other third countries. For us, it’s really a big mystery how [these restrictions] can solve anything.”

Paradoxical behaviour

Environmental policy is another area where European politics is shifting its attitude: the European Commission is diluting the environmental requirements for farmers, which is exactly the opposite of what scientists are advising to do to combat the climate crisis. 77% of Europeans is concerned about the climate crisis, yet at the same time parties with anti-green policies are gaining momentum. This paradoxical behaviour stems from the message far-right parties are spreading: eat, or be eaten. With claims like ‘our own people first’ - which I wrote about at length in the previous post ‘Europe Says No to Immigration, But Might Very Well Need It Soon’ - politicians like Giorgia Meloni and Geert Wilders are pushing the idea that we will have it better if we don’t have to share.

European politics is increasingly veering towards an attitude of disunion where the most vulnerable have to fend for themselves. The world’s poorest countries currently bear the brunt of the impact of the climate crisis, while the 74 lowest income countries only produce one tenth of the greenhouse gasses. (For reference, there are 195 countries in the world, according to the U.N. definition). According to the discourse of the far-right, European countries have to solve their own problems before even beginning to think about the impact of climate change on the poorest. Yet it is faulty to think that climate change isn’t Europe’s problem just because it isn’t affecting it as much yet. According to the first-ever climate risk rapport by the European Environment Agency (EEA), Europe is the fastest warming continent in the world. Extreme heat is become more frequent, and the continent can expect more floodings as well as extreme droughts due to changing precipitation patterns.

(Dis)united

Fighting the climate crisis is not some philanthropic endeavour, but rather in the best interest of the whole human race, including Europeans. The same is true for providing aid to Ukraine. The EU shouldn’t see it as charity, but as creating precedent for supporting those in need in times of crisis. It is not a matter of who will get to live in a peaceful world first, but how we can arrive there together.

“If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” This quote, delivered by Lilla Watson at the 1985 United Nations Decade for Women Conference in Nairobi, symbolises a sentiment opposite of what the far-right is proclaiming in Europe. Collective peace and wellbeing is possible, but not just for one country, group, or people. We can only achieve it together.

Luckily, we as Europeans have a chance to let our voices be heard this June. We get to choose whether we move forward disunited, or collectively.

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