The electorate is preoccupied with job losses, Government incompetence and the taxi industry – but there is a lack of knowledge about European issues, writes JAMIE SMYTHEuropean Correspondent
GOVERNMENT INCOMPETENCE, a lack of jobs and even the deregulation of the taxi industry are popular topics of conversation that candidates in the European elections are facing when they knock on doors in any of the four Irish constituencies.
But is anyone asking about the big European issues such as climate change, the Lisbon Treaty, the regulation of financial markets or even immigration – the type of issues that elected MEPs will have to grapple with when they arrive in Brussels come July?
“When I meet people in the street they tend to raise all sorts of issues rather than European issues,” says Fine Gael MEP Gay Mitchell.
“I wish it was more about Europe, but the public’s interest is local and they don’t know much about Fine Gael’s political party the European People’s Party (EPP).”
Green Party candidate Deirdre de Burca agrees voters are pre-occupied with national issues.
“It is difficult being a European candidate because people don’t know how to engage on Europe. There is also a shocking lack of knowledge on the doorsteps. People don’t know about the European group system and the media don’t bother asking about European issues,” she says.
Irish people tend to be among the least well-informed about Europe when compared to other Europeans, according to Prof Michael Marsh from Trinity College Dublin.
“The post Lisbon referendum research showed the public have an incredibly low level of knowledge about the EU, even though we’ve had five referendums on Europe,” says Prof Marsh, who highlights a lack of debate among the big political parties on Europe as a key reason for this.
“In the public’s mind, there is very little difference between Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Labour on Europe and the issue rarely features during general elections. Compare that with Denmark or Britain, where there is a vigorous debate between Eurosceptic and pro-European parties,” he says.
Sinn Féin and Libertas are campaigning against the Lisbon Treaty, but they are fringe parties and the treaty remains well down the voter priority list when compared with the state of the Irish economy, according to pollsters.
The European elections in Ireland, as in many other EU states, tend to be used as a mid-term review of the government by voters. The opposition also try to score political points against the Government rather than open an ideological debate about Europe or policy issues associated with the EU.
“In Ireland, voters as in many other member states, use the European elections as a test of the incumbent government – usually to give them a kick! This is a rational response to a second order election [where government power is not at stake],” says Brigid Laffan, UCD professor, who notes that the Irish political system means MEPs have to think nationally to get elected.
“MEPs from many countries live in Brussels all of the time. Their role is seen as European Parliament and Brussels-based not national, but this would not work in Ireland. MEPs would not get re-elected if they lived out of the country,” she says, noting the close relationship between voters and politicians in Ireland when compared to other EU states that use a party list system (in some EU states such as Britain, voters choose a party and do not cast a vote for an individual MEP. Party bosses compile the list of people to be elected).
This lack of interest in European issues has preoccupied information commissioner Margot Wallstrom for the past five years.
She has pumped more cash into European political parties and funded a new breed of think tanks to try to inspire a public debate on Europe. But awareness of the European political parties is low, with even many academics and journalists with a particular interest in the EU struggling to name all 10 European political parties.
“The European parties can seem rather muddled because they are made up of a collection of national parties with often quite different ideological positions. This lack of clarity would make it very difficult for the public to identify with them,” says Hugo Brady, analyst with the Centre for European Reform.
“Take Fianna Fáil’s move to the Liberals. It’s hard to imagine Fianna Fáil espousing the progressive principles in the Liberals’ manifesto.”
The complexity of bringing national parties with different cultural and historical experiences together from all across the EU into a single political family is a major challenge when it comes to agreeing a programme.
Just four of the 10 European political parties have published a manifesto, with the others leaving it to national parties to set out a programme.
Another classic example of the lack of party discipline in Europe is the failure of the European Socialists to agree on a single candidate for the position of European Commission president. The European People’s Party has nominated incumbent Jose Manuel Barroso for the post, but Socialist in-fighting (British Labour prime minister Gordon Brown is openly supporting Mr Barroso) has prevented a single candidate emerging to compete. This has removed any chance of a “personality factor” emerging in this campaign.
But it is too simplistic to say an election focused on key national issues such as the economy and unemployment does not have a European dimension. A key issue highlighted by all Irish candidates is job creation and although MEPs may be exaggerating their role by promising to bring jobs back home, they can play a role in protecting employment by amending EU policies.
For example, MEPs recently voted to loosen the rules governing the globalisation adjustment fund – a €500 million annual pot of cash disbursed to EU states to help retrain workers who lose their jobs in the crisis. MEPs lobbied hard on the issue and finally voted in May in a move that should help thousands of people losing their job at Dell this year.
“It is very difficult to tell the difference between an European issue or a national issue. People vote on social economic issues and climate change in general elections, but the European Parliament legislates in many of these areas too . . . even with the Lisbon Treaty, it is member states that decide on that issue,” says Prof Marsh. “So, in that case there is little difference between an European election or a general election, although of course the government does not change in a European election.”