I’ve now organised a party to celebrate the EU elections with some friends on June 6th. Is that a horribly geeky thing to do? It probably is. The upshot, though, is that I will be in a room full of people as the European election results roll in.
A party is not really an environment well-suited to blogging – for one thing, people will be more interested in partying - but I might get the chance to chat to friends casually about their opinions. I’ll no doubt get a lot of blank stares back, but I hope I’ll also get some interesting sound-bites. Every so often, I’ll try to sneak off to a sofa in a corner, log on, check headlines and post a short update.
I hope that you’ve chosen to celebrate the EU elections in some way (even if it’s not a party), and that you will also find some time to blog about the results. What I’d really love to see is lots of people posting short, informative posts on election day. It should be an event. But I’ll admit that it’s an effort to make the EU elections exciting.
When I was an undergraduate student, I remember staying up till 5:30 in the morning to see if John Kerry would oust Dubyah Bush from the White House. Likewise with Obama’s rise to power. Now that was an event. It was easy to organise an all-night party to see who would be elected the “leader of the free world.” The EU elections, with all the confusion over how much power the parliament has and what it can actually achieve, will never draw crowds like a US Presidential election. I doubt many people will be staying up till 5:30 in the morning this weekend.
That’s a shame, because democracy is supposed to be an event. Even if you hate the EU, you should be celebrating. Won’t this be a bumper year for Eurosceptic parties? Especially in the UK, where one quarter of voters are set to reject the mainstream. More than this, though, if you hate the EU you should be celebrating because the next few months will see the EU being tested to breaking-point.
In the UK, the Conservative party has locked itself into a referendum on Lisbon. According to one guest-lecture I attended recently, rumour has it that David Cameron has told the Home Office to prepare for a referendum within one week of the Tories taking office. This would almost certainly torpedo the Lisbon treaty. Things might be slightly different if the UK general election were called after a “Yes” vote in Ireland, but the way the expenses scandal is playing out, it is entirely possible that Gordon Brown’s government will not make it through until Autumn.
There is no plan ‘B’ for the EU if Lisbon doesn’t get passed. There is some vague talk of a “two-speed Europe,” that I found intriguing at first, but have since grown sceptical of. If you fracture the EU into different units, then those units will forever remain separate. The more they evolve and develop to accommodate the specific needs of the member-states that are signed-up, the less attractive they will become for those member-states that aren’t signed-up and have no say in the formative decision making.
So, these elections are something to celebrate, no matter your opinion on the EU. This next year will be a defining one for Europe, and if you’re a supporter then you can hope for a successful Lisbon referendum and a reinvigorated EU, with more reforms to follow. The elections will almost certainly be a low-point for you, but this is a time to pick yourself up, recognise that the EU is flawed and campaign hard to move it in the right direction.
If you’re sceptical, then perhaps these elections signal the beginning of the end for the EU. You can hope that Lisbon will be rejected and that the Union will slowly begin to unwind. Perhaps the EU will be doomed to irrelevance as an intergovernmental talking shop, or perhaps it will actually pull itself apart under the strain of an economic recession and 27 bickering member-states.
So whatever your politics – these are elections to get excited about. And if you haven’t decided how you’re going to blog them, now is the time.
(6 votes, average: 4.17 out of 5)
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(I assume you’re talking to the Th!nk about it bloggers, but I’ll blather anyway).
I think it depends on how the news comes out - I’d say I’ll blog as usual up until Sunday, and then blog as the results come out (which will probably be in Ireland & the UK first). Since I’ll be reacting to the news, how the news is reported will effect how I blog.
I doubt I’ll have an election party - my friends are much to apathetic for that, despite my badgering. I might be able to get some views though (I’ll try my best).
In the lead up to the elections I’ve belatedly started asking our local candidates 5 questions via email because of my disappointment in the media when it comes to asking questions on European issues. I’ve had a great response (4 out of 7 so far) despite the short notice and the closeness of polling day (Thursday here). No doubt I’ll have something to say on the poll in NI too…
Hi, Eurocentric
I was writing (as always) to anybody who will listen!
I’ll be celebrating with some fairly politically apathetic friends (actually, a mixed bunch including international students with little interest in European politics).
Actually, it’s also my birthday, so organising a party was fairly easy…
I’ll do my best to keep up with the results as they come out of Italy. A friend of mine is actually running for election, so I will have to get in touch with him and possibly post an interview.
Aren’t there some people on your course also interested in European politics?
It’s a shame that there will be no mainstream media outlet offering pan-European coverage of the results (as far as I know anyway). That would make things a lot more exciting, especially if it’s a close race to be the biggest grouping in the parliament. Euronews is the only channel I can imagine attempting this, but they lack the resources to do it properly.
The failure of the EU to establish a serious television presence represents a major PR error in my opinion.
Hi, Michael!
If we can get enough bloggers translating their national media updates and talking and adding commentary, then that would be something.
Keep an eye on TH!NK on election night - and on the other bloggers. I hope it will be an interesting compliment to national media.
Do you have your own blog, btw?
I have, but I’m not sure whether I’ll be able to bring myself to watch the Irish media coverage, let alone report on it!