WHAT COUNTS IS VISION

WHAT COUNTS IS VISION

Jaroslaw Glodek op
Warsaw Espaces Centrum

In 2004, when Poland took part in the European Parliament elections for the first time, only 20% of the citizens who were eligible to vote did so. This percentage fell far below the voting average in prior Polish national elections, despite the fact that interest was relatively high with regard to European matters since the country was just entering the structure of the European Union (EU). This begs the question, what will the percentage of voters be this year within the newer EU member countries in eastern Europe ?

To get some idea, I called a couple of my friends in Vilnius (Lithuania), Tallinn (Estonia) and Prague (Czech Republic), all of whom live in big cities, have university degrees, and are intelligent young men between 30-40 years of age. The results…none of them was aware of any kind of upcoming EU election. They were eager to discuss the political, social and economic situation of their countries, but didn’t appear to have the same interest in similar matters when applied to Europe as a whole. To them, Brussels seems to be a very distant, bureaucratic city with perhaps the potential of being a source of financial support to their own countries.

I also checked out the official Internet pages of the Polish State Electoral Commission that is charged with overseeing the elections to the EU Parliament. Unbelievably, the pages were last updated in 2004 ! Accordingly, we seem to be faced with a fact that is hard to deny – no one seems to care very much, if at all, about the upcoming June 2009 popular EU vote.

This apathy among voters in eastern European countries has spurred the EU to conduct its own research about why the average person has such low interest in unified European affairs. Two main reasons were identified : 1) a deeply rooted conviction among all EU citizens that their participation in the election is pointless since it cannot really influence anything of substance, and ; 2) they don’t see how choosing representatives from their own region can influence European legislation enough for their own countries to benefit. This feeling is certainly true in Poland, where 50 delegates will be elected to the 785 member parliament – not to mention in even smaller countries like Luxemburg, which will elect only two representatives.

What can we do ? Certainly it would not be practical to increase the size of the parliament. With 27 countries, requiring multiple translations, tons of papers, and thousands of staff members to serve the 750 parliamentarians, it is already the biggest political body in the world !

It is a very interesting phenomenon from the point of view of political science that for the 30 years of the EU Parliament’s existence, both the number of its members elected by popular vote as well as its legislative power has risen. Sixty percent of national laws are created on a European level, giving the EU Parliament a significant role. Ironically, however, despite the growing role and significance of the EU Parliament, the number of EU citizens participating in elections has grown smaller and smaller !

Here, in the eastern frontier of the EU, politicians have a certain opinion about society. According to them, citizens are still primarily focused on concerns related to their own countries, and thus the populace must feel that the EU structure can at best play a very secondary role in solving their unique challenges. Therefore, when campaigning for election to the EU Parliament, politicians concentrate on national issues, telling the voters what they can do for Poland, Lithuania or Czech republic, speaking not even a word about the future and common vision of a united Europe.

For this reason, I tend to blame the politicians for the lack of interest in the EU elections demonstrated by the voting public. Candidates don’t believe people are interested in the vision around European unity. They therefore present themselves as national lobbyists rather then politicians, ambassadors rather then legislators. As a result, people envision the EU Parliament to be a structure of different nations lobbying for their own benefit, as opposed to a legislative body focused on a common European structure. If this were truly the case, the best course of action would be for each country to elect its most vocal and aggressive candidates rather than choosing the wisest politicians ! Representing national interests and perhaps counterbalancing the current ruling party in the country seem to be the main arguments politicians use to convince the people to vote for them. No wonder people don’t buy it ! It is of the highest importance that politicians begin believing that the average voter can understand the vision and mission of the EU and that they want to be engaged in discussions surrounding its future. Those seeking office must urgently change their campaign rhetoric and promote more the common vision of the European community, discussion of its shared values, and the kind of unity that is being sought. People in Eastern Europe are not foolish enough to believe that they can obtain a greater share of money and privileges from the EU if they have more persuasive and vocal representation. They want to believe that their voice will be heard in substantive discussions. Greater unity or not ? A United States of Europe or a looser federation ? A more open society or legal limits of justice ? People yearn for visionary politicians instead of technicians fixing local problems on an international level. Vision is what we urgently need for people to begin to care.