2019 European Parliament Election
Results Give Rise to Fragmented
New European Parliament
Just as the Europe of the monopolies is fragmented, so
too
the elections for the new European Parliament have given rise to
fragmented results. Both are wracked by rival narrow private
interests vying for control over peoples whose nation-states no
longer represent their sovereign right to decide matters for
themselves. An article in German Foreign Policy reports, for example,
on the impact on the European member states of the introduction of the
euro, January 1, 1999.
German Foreign Policy reports: "According to a recent
study by
the Bertelsmann Foundation, German industry, represented by the
Federation of German Industries (BDI) is the EU's biggest winner,
raking in €86 billion per year, thanks to the common market.
Already last February, the Centre for European Policy (cep)
pointed out that Germany is the euro's biggest beneficiary: since
its launch, the single currency has generated almost €1.9 trillion for
the central power, while costing Italy €4.3 trillion.
Whereas the BDI speaks of the EU in glowing terms, almost one
quarter of the population living in the EU is threatened by
poverty and social marginalization."
The annual per capita income growth, for example in
Spain (€589), Greece (€401), Poland (€382), or Bulgaria (€193) is much
lower than in Germany (€1,024).[1]
"Germany is not only the main beneficiary of the common
market, but also the main beneficiary of the introduction of the
euro. This has been confirmed by a study published in February by
the cep located in Freiburg. The study points out that in 2017,
Germany's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) would have been €280
billion less, were it not for the EU single currency. Altogether,
from the introduction of the euro, until 2017, Germany has gained
almost €1.9 trillion -- or approximately €23,116 per capita.[2]
However, cep had also discovered that, of the eight euro
countries studied, only the Netherlands also shows a positive
result -- a plus of €346 billion up to and including 2017, or
€21,003 per capita. France and Italy, on the other hand, were
dramatic losers. The French GDP would be €374 billion more,
Italy's, even €530 billion more, if the common currency had not
been introduced, reports cep. From 1999 -- 2017 France lost a
total of approximately €3.6 trillion (€55,996 per capita). During the
same period, Italy lost more than €4.3 trillion (€73,605 per
capita)."
In 2017, according to Eurostat, the EU's statistics
authority,
22.5 per cent of the Union's population were threatened with
poverty and social marginalization[3]
-- a mere 1.2 per cent
fewer than nearly ten years earlier (2008: 23.7 per cent). In
2017, the proportion of those in the EU, who were still
classified as poverty-threatened, after having received their
social welfare payments, was at 16.9 per cent -- higher than in
2008 (16.6 per cent). Only seven EU countries had successfully
lowered their 2008 proportions, while in 19 EU countries these
had risen further. According to Eurostat, in 2017, 6.9 per cent
of the population in the EU suffers from "considerable material
deprivation." The figures refer to the nationally determined
risk-of-poverty thresholds, whose low-levels are themselves but
further indications of the gap in prosperity that exists within
the Union. Whereas in Germany, in 2017, poverty-threatened
signified having less than €13,152 annually, in Greece -- with
similar living expenses in various aspects -- only those with
less than €4,560 annually were considered poverty-threatened. In
Lithuania the 2017 threshold was at €3,681, and in Bulgaria,
€2,150. As mentioned above, the German economy's umbrella
organizations refer to the EU as a "realm of prosperity [...]
with a high level of social responsibility."[4]
"Many of the east and southeast European countries have
become
low-cost production sites for German companies, which has fueled
the German industry's enormous export success, if not made it
even possible. German trade with the entire region is booming.
The commodity exchange between Germany and the Visegrád group
(Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary) in 2017 was at around
€256 billion -- significantly more than trade with China (approx.
€170 billion). A significant portion of Germany's Visegrád trade
is comprised of delivery exchanges between German plants in
Germany with their subsidiaries in Visegrád countries. Thanks to
its geographical location in the heart of the continent, and its
historically developed relations, Germany has profited more than
all other EU countries from the eastward expansion. Great Britain
on the EU's western outskirts offers an example of the contrary.
As experts from the German Economic Institute (IW, Cologne)
reported in October, Great Britain 'benefited little' from the
EU's eastward expansion. Therefore, it plays 'a significantly
smaller role' than Germany in the Union's production
chains.[5]"
The EU remains the German economy's most important sales
market. In 2017, Germany exported around €750 billion to other
member countries of the Union -- 58.6 per cent of its total
exports, accumulating thereby an export surplus of nearly €160
billion.[6] These enormous
advantages explain the overwhelming
majority of German entrepreneurs' satisfaction with the Union --
in spite of the growing dissatisfaction spreading through sectors
of Germany's medium-sized economy.[7]
Election Results
The European Union elections were held in Europe's 28
member states, compared to
12 members in 1994. Voter turnout was said to be 50.5 per cent,
the highest in 20 years. The European People's Party (EPP) won
180 seats (down 35 from 2014), and the Progressive Alliance of
Socialists and Democrats (S&D) won 146 (down 40 from 2014). Their
combined 326 seats fall short of a majority in the 751 member
parliament.
Media reports are describing a "Green Wave" with the
Greens
increasing their seats from 50 to 67, thanks to a strong showing
in Germany and France.
In Germany, the Green party nearly doubled its 2014 vote
share
to take second place with 20.5 per cent of the vote.
In France, President Emmanuel Macron's La
République en Marche
(LREM) party and Marine Le Pen's National Rally enter the
new European Parliament with 23 seats each. National Rally is
said to have captured a record number of votes (5.3 million, up
from 4.7 million in 2014), more than LREM's 23.3 per cent of
votes cast. Yannick Jadot's Europe Ecologie les Verts took third
place with 13.5 per cent of the vote, "a significant increase
over their 9.9 per cent vote share in 2014 and over pre-election
polling.
In Italy, "Matteo Salvini's far-right League party
cemented
its hold on the electoral landscape with 34.3 per cent, to the
detriment of its coalition partner in national government, the
Five-Star Movement, which claimed half as many votes (17.1 per
cent) to come in third, France 24 reports. Former Prime Minister
Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia claimed less than nine per cent of
votes.
In Austria, the big winner of the European elections is
said
to be Chancellor Sebastian Kurz. "In the midst of a government
crisis over a corruption scandal of his coalition partner, his
party, the ÖVP, increased its share of the vote by seven per cent
[and]
will thus have up to seven seats in the new European Parliament.
Meanwhile, in the Czech Republic, the ANO party of populist Prime
Minister Andrej Babis won the most votes despite the fact that
Babis is facing fraud charges involving the use of EU funds. The
same goes for Bulgaria's PM Boyko Borissov whose GERB reasserted
itself despite recent scandals," EURACTIV.com writes.[8]
In Greece, "Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, following
massive
defeats to the conservative opposition New Democracy party (EPP)
in EU and local elections, announced snap elections, most
probably due on June 30."
The "whole European Left saw a drop in their
representation,
going from 52 to 39 seats."
"The Polish opposition movement European Coalition,
comprised
of the Civic Platform (PO), formerly led by European Council
President Donald Tusk, and a group of leftist and rural parties
reached a hefty 38.3 per cent, but was still behind the ruling
PiS. The fact that the united opposition still did not manage to
trump the governing party is a defeat in itself. The narrow
result directly puts the two camps on a collision course for the
national polls in autumn, which for now does not bode well for
the opposition camp."
In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's Fidesz
party "was
virtually the only party on the continent to win an outright
majority, with 52.3 per cent of the vote. The only other party to
do so was the Labour party of Malta."
In Britain, Nigel Farage's new Brexit Party, topped the
poll
with 31.7 per cent of the vote and won 29 of Britain's 73
seats. The Conservative Party garnered only 8.7 per cent of
votes, while Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party took 14.1 per cent. The
Liberal Democrat and Green parties are also said to have posted
"historically strong results."
France 24 put it this way: "Sunday's election results
are set
to reshape the EU's governing coalition, as far-right parties and
pro-European greens and liberals each make big gains at the
expense of the establishment left and right."[9]
Notes
1. Giordano Mion,
Dominic Ponattu: Ökonomische Effekte des EU-Binnenmarktes in
Europas Ländern und Regionen. Herausgegeben von der Bertelsmann
Stiftung. Gütersloh, 2019.
2. Alessandro Gasparotti,
Matthias Kullas: 20 Jahre
Euro:
Verlierer und Gewinner. Eine empirische Untersuchung. cepStudie.
Freiburg, February 2019.
3. Abwärtstrend beim Anteil
der von Armut oder sozialer
Ausgrenzung bedrohten Personen in der EU. Eurostat
Pressemitteilung 159/2018. Brüssel, October 16, 2018.
4. Gemeinsamer Appell der
deutschen Wirtschaft:
Wirtschaft für
Europa. bdi.eu, September 5, 2019.
5. Michael Hüther, Matthias
Diermeier, Markos Jung,
Andrew
Bassilakis: If Nothing is Achieved: Who Pays for the Brexit?
Intereconomics, May 2018, 274-280.
6. EU weiterhin mit Abstand
wichtigster Handelspartner Deutschlands. handelsblatt.com May 7, 2018.
7. See also "Europas Achsen,"
german-foreign-policy.com,
July
3, 2018.
8. "Farage tops poll and Remain
parties surge as EU
polls
spell out UK's divide," Benjamin Fox, EURACTIV.com, May 27,
2019.
9. "Populist push, green wave,
establishment in turmoil:
a
round-up of the EU elections," France 24, May 28, 2019.
This article was published in
Volume 49 Number
22 - June 15, 2019
Article Link:
2019
European Parliament Election: Results Give Rise to Fragmented New
European Parliament
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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