‘Angry Europeans are voting for right-wing parties…migration’s out of favour...Le Pen can be France’s president’
Recent EU elections saw far-right parties increase their tally in the continental Parliament. This may see a prominence of right-wing agenda in European policymaking. Michael von der Schulenburg, former assistant secretary-general at UN, spoke with TOI about the implications
With EU election results showing gains for the far-right, will EU policy too track rightward now?
The new EU Parliament will move to the right, but we cannot speak of a landslide in favour of far-right parties. True, there will be some significant shifts in its composition – far-right parties having gained while the Greens in particular have lost ground. But the Parliament will continue to be dominated by the three mainstream party formations, the conservatives, social democrats and liberals.
It is therefore unlikely that anything will change at the top of the European Commission. Von der Leyen may once again become President of the EU Commission and the two other important posts, that of EU Council president and EU foreign affairs commissioner, may be occupied by the social democratic and liberal camps again.
The new EU Parliament will move to the right, but we cannot speak of a landslide in favour of far-right parties. True, there will be some significant shifts in its composition – far-right parties having gained while the Greens in particular have lost ground. But the Parliament will continue to be dominated by the three mainstream party formations, the conservatives, social democrats and liberals.
It is therefore unlikely that anything will change at the top of the European Commission. Von der Leyen may once again become President of the EU Commission and the two other important posts, that of EU Council president and EU foreign affairs commissioner, may be occupied by the social democratic and liberal camps again.