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Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni casts her vote in the European Parliament elections. Pic: AP
Very few of these people want to leave the EU – they want to change it from within.
And, if they do well in this election, this could be the point when those muscles are flexed.
Already there are questions about whether Bardella and Meloni will work together – and that is certainly a possibility.
They share similar policies in some areas, after all.
But there is a stumbling block to that. MEPs from different countries come together in parliament as part of different trans-national groups – effectively cross-border parties.
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Pic: AP
Bardella’s RN party is allied to the far-right ID political group. Meloni is part of the slightly more central ECR. On paper, that might not look important – in reality, it could be a profound difference.
Because these political groupings are seen as a big deal within European Parliament and Meloni, who has repeatedly tried to distance herself from extremism, won’t want to be part of the ID group.
Instead, Meloni seems much more likely to strike a deal with the sitting president, Ursula von der Leyen, than she is to go into partnership with Bardella.
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A man votes at a polling station during the European Parliament and local elections in Hungary. Pic: AP
But there’s another layer to this. Von der Leyen’s future as president depends on these new MEPs endorsing her for a second term, and that’s not guaranteed.
The more members there are from the far-right and far-left, the fewer friends she will have, while frosty relations between France and Germany have seen French MEPs threatening to block her.
The politicking will not stop once the votes have been counted.
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This is the second biggest election in the world, behind only India’s general election, with more than 370 million people eligible to cast a vote, spread through the European Union’s 27 member states.
Their votes will decide the look of a parliament containing more than 700 members (MEPs), charged with making laws that apply to the whole union.
Parliament also has to approve the EU’s budget, which currently stands at around £160bn, and also greenlight the nomination of the EU’s leading administrators – including the hugely powerful president of the European Commission.
Source link : https://news.sky.com/story/europe-decides-how-will-election-shape-continents-changing-politics-13150079
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Publish date : 2024-06-10 07:00:00
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