Europe against unity?

Publication date: July 15, 2004

. The results of the elections to the European Parliament from 25 countries of the Union have been finally summed up They turned out to be shocking for most Europeans - both party members and voters. RJ asked Arnold Waatz (Germany), one of the eight co-chairs of the CDU-CSU faction in the Bundestag, who oversees issues of economic development and cooperation, human rights and relations with developing countries, to comment on the situation. Since 2002, Deputy Chairman of the CDU.

RJ: Mr. Vaatz, what did the elections to the European Parliament show, what particular trend did they demonstrate?

Arnold Waatz: The final result of the elections in Germany was the same as the previous ones. We had a good result, if we talk about the conservatives. We lost 1-2%, but the Social Democrats lost a lot - they had a low level of support, which remained the same. In general, not many people came to the elections at all - about 40%. This is explained by the fact that in German elections people choose between two parties, elect a prime minister or president, which does not happen in Euro elections. On the other hand, all our big parties support the expansion of the European Union and the idea of European unity. The small turnout may be explained by the fact that not all people are in favor of expansion, especially in the eastern part of Germany. There are approximately 20% of such opponents, but there is no party that would fully reflect their skepticism. This means that people have no one to address their concerns about unity in Europe to.

RJ: How do Europeans generally understand the meaning of European unity, for which they should vote?

A.V.: The majority thinks that unity does not depend on their vote. However, the majority agree with the principle of European unity. There are more skeptics in East Germany, because they are worried about the changes that lie in wait for them under European unification.

RJ: How should we understand the fact that most countries in central Europe voted against their ruling parties?

A.V.: There is no big secret here. People don't like their governments. The German government has lost confidence. But this is more an indicator of how much the Social Democrats have lost in Germany, rather than an indicator of the preference given to the Christian Democrats. The SPD are perceived as those who contributed to equalization in society and then to the growth of tension in society. Mr. Lafontaine, Minister of Finance in 1990-1998, did everything in his time to stop the reforms of the previous government in the field of taxation and health care. In comparison with these measures, people realized the advantages of the solutions to problems offered by the CDU-CSU.

RJ: Why did the SPD, whose reforms caused such disappointment, win the elections two years ago?

A.V.: Firstly, on the eve of the elections we had a large flood, which caused significant destruction. People believed the government that really helped them then. Secondly, people were faced with the dilemma of Germany's participation in the Iraq campaign. Both of these circumstances allowed the SPD to win the election with a narrow majority of votes. But later, many were disappointed with their choice and with the failures in social policy that they received. The current elections have shown that foreign policy, armaments and other things have less to do with everyday issues than social issues. But the Greens, as the elections showed, did not receive a significant increase in votes.

RJ: The Russian Party of Latvia, representing a third of the population of this country, has now entered the European Parliament - they are going to bloc there with the Greens. Could this become a new national component of European policy?

A.V.: In Europe there are no national parties, in Germany there is neither a Turkish nor a Russian party. Nationally oriented partisanship is not an EU problem. Although the Northern Irish Sinn Fein got into the European Parliament and the Russian party in Lithuania also succeeded, they will not change the overall picture of European politics.

RJ: In Russia, at different levels, they like to speculate about the prospects for our entry into the EU. Don't you think the Latvian demarche is a harbinger of Russia's entry into the EU?

A.V.: It is unlikely that such a prospect can be considered in the near future. I am sure that neither Russia nor Europe is seriously considering this possibility. Another question is, if Russia gradually goes through all the steps in order to become a member of the EU, achieves economic and social growth, then the Russian government will have to answer an important question: if Russia is so strong that it can enter the EU on equal terms, what does it mean? will he receive? How does this fit with the spirit of Russian foreign policy? Russia has a border with Central Asia, the Islamic world in the South and China, and the factor of economic expansion from the East will only increase. I can’t imagine how both Europe and Russia could benefit from Russia’s entry into the EU. Cooperation with Europe is one thing, but entry is completely different.

RJ: How many members are there in the new enlarged European Parliament?

A.V.: 788. From Germany, with its population of 82 million people, there are 99 deputies. Of these, 53 are from the CDU-CSU , that is, the majority.

RJ: Is it possible to actually calculate the ratio of the conditionally “right” and “left” in the elected European Parliament?

A.V.: From my point of view, it is impossible to divide everyone into left and right. The Conservative parties, with this view, should include the English Tories among their number. But the Tories are not part of the European faction of popular parties, which can be defined as conservative. If you put them together, they will form a majority in the European Parliament. On the other hand, there remain the Greens, Social Democrats, and Left Liberals. But the question is not who has the majority, but what the European Parliament decides. Today this is a small range of real questions. And this is the main, more significant circumstance than the numerical superiority of forces.