Monday 8 June 2009

European discussion - UK and JHA

So finally we have a European discussion. Who gets how many votes, who wins, who loses. The demise of Labour in GB is really estonishing. It really shows that there is not such thing as a party that can rule forever. Maybe this is the best aspect of democracy that it forces people to compete? Ok, they not always compete with ideas. There is also marketing, negative campaigns and so on. But still people need to think how to win with others. And the periodic changes in UK are really interesting. After the 18 years of Tories, we had 12 years of Labour. How long will be the next domination, if such occur... Or maybe a change of voting rules and end of two party system? Liberals and UKIP would not mind.

The results in UK are really putting its political class with a fundamental question. Shall we continue with the European project; do we want to speak with others about things that should matter to us.?It is interesting how the internal pluralism of British society (Welsh, Scotts, Pakistani, Indian, Poles) is putting its back to the external pluralism of the EU.

I am looking forward to the establishment of the conservative group in the European Parliament. They will be like dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, but still they can be interesting dinosaurs. What proposals shall they put for climate change, globalisation, transmissable diseases? Maybe they can propose a balanced deal to the issue of immigration... can they? I was recently thinking that the Justice, Home Affairs and Security Directorate General will soon become the key battleground for the European project. Not the Afghanistan question, not the fight with the economic crisis but the question of living with strangers seems the most fundamental now.

Polish corner:
There is a young MEP from Poland - Rafal Trzaskowski who has just made it to the hemi-sphere in Strasbourg. He was given a great chance and succeded. I hope that in 5 years time he will have established his name and shall continue political career that has just started. Being 37 he can understand better what are the preoccupations of the younger generation. I wish him luck.

The other phenomenon which attracks attention is the success of the French coalition of ecologists. Having on one list Verts, regionalist parties, Jose Bove and former anti-corruption investigator proved to be a very successful recipee. They managed to do the same as Jospin in 1997. I wonder if they manage to keep their cohesion for longer. If yes, we can see an emergence of an interesting political current in Europe. If they join forces with the European Free Alliance from Skandinavia they could overtake the Liberals. Maybe I am wrong but it is nice to speculate sometimes.

The question now is what to do with Barrosso. I do not see any contenders, do you? It is not a sign of a vivid polity, where nobody dares to challenge the incumbent. What is the merit of winning if there is no competition... It seems that monarchy is not a disregarded option in Europe. I stop here.

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