EU citizens have voted representatives into the European Parliament since 1979, but even today they do so on different dates, according to different electoral laws, for candidates selected by national — rather than European — political parties and on the basis of domestic agendas.
Pan-European parties (so called Euro-parties) have been given institutional recognition and financial resources over time, but they remain weak, extra-parliamentary federations made up of national parties from several EU countries, united by thin political affinity and driven by financial rewards. [...]
The nature and scale of many of the challenges facing Europe, such as migration, require pan-European solutions. But citizens are led to believe that most of the problems afflicting their local communities can and should be solved locally. Instead of holding a single search for a solution across the bloc, national debates promote local “solutions” that are inefficient and often at odds with one another, as in the case, again, with migration. [...]
One thing is clear. There are many more visions of Europe than those presented by traditional federalists on one side of the spectrum and nationalists on the other. Europe as a political space is still evolving, but these transnational movements — however well they perform — will nudge all political parties to compete for ideas, votes and seats on a European stage.
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