Hard right wants more EU power to reflect likely election gains
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[May 06, 2024]
By Philip Blenkinsop
STRASBOURG (Reuters) - From his office in a distant annex, French
right-wing lawmaker Jean-Paul Garraud has his sights set on a spot much
closer to the decision-making heart of the European Parliament.
The chair of France's Rassemblement National (RN) lawmakers expects
nationalist and eurosceptic parties to surge in the June 6-9 EU assembly
election, giving them a first taste of influence in Brussels and
Strasbourg, if other right and centre-right parties work with them.
Polls predict radical right parties will gain across the EU, including
France, Germany and Italy where many seats are at stake, as voters
frustrated by a cost of living and energy crisis, illegal migration, and
rattled by a changing geo-political landscape seek alternatives beyond
mainstream parties.
"We will be in a different position and will not be blocked.... We could
have positions in the committees or a president or vice-president in the
European Parliament," Garraud told Reuters, anticipating new influence
as the chamber considers issues crucial to the far-right.
"What I am sure of is that we will have a majority in a certain number
of votes," Garraud said, adding this could allow the blocs of far-right
parties to water down green policies or restrictions of free trade. "And
above all, less immigration," he said, highlighting a crucial issue for
the radical right.
Polls forecast the two radical right groups Identity and Democracy (ID)
and the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) will add 30-50
seats, to rise to 22-25% from 18% now.
Support is not limited to a traditional base of disgruntled older men. A
recent German poll showed 22% of under-30s would vote for the country's
far-right AfD. RN's president is 28-year-old Jordan Bardella, a
telegenic poster on TikTok, the short video platform little used by the
mainstream.
Many of the parties are heavy users of social media, which mainstream
groups warn will bombard EU voters with lies.
In the French port of Dunkirk, long a leftwing bastion, some parents
worry about what messages young people are exposed to.
Jean-Francois Engrand, 53, said his two step-children were tempted to
vote RN by messages about foreigners getting money for nothing. "It's
scary. They're being bombarded. They don't check the information they
get on their phones," he said.
HARD RIGHT SHUT-OUT
Corina Stratulat, associate director of think tank the European Policy
Centre, said radical, populist parties were filling a growing gap
between the mainstream and distrustful voters in an "age of perma-crisis"
from pandemic to war in Ukraine and energy price spikes.
Efforts to fill the gap have backfired. French President Emmanuel
Macron's party is polling at about 16%, half that of RN. Critics say his
highlighting of immigration and crime has helped the right and driven
away left-leaning voters.
Green policies, heralded in 2019 after school climate strikes, have also
become a right-wing target.
"People are aware the green deal can bite and that the next five years
will be crucial for its implementation," said Armida van Rij, senior
research fellow at Chatham House.
The centre-right European People's Party (EPP), the Social Democrats and
the centrist liberals have so far shut out the hard right, dividing up
top EU jobs and forging policy consensus. They are expected to have a
majority, albeit reduced, after the 2024 vote.
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Maximilian Krah, member of the European Parliament for the far-right
Alternative for Germany and AfD's top candidate in June's election
to the assembly, attends a local election campaign rally in Dresden,
Germany, May 1, 2024. REUTERS/Matthias Rietschel/File Photo
Garraud says a shut-out will not be possible this time, while Nicola
Procaccini, co-chair of the ECR group, sees Italy's government of
his and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy, the
further right Lega and centre-right Forza Italia as a model.
"I think this is the way to go," he said, pointing to a situation in
which the hard right would have far greater say on policy and who
staffs the European Commission.
CHINA, RUSSIA LINKS?
The EPP, likely to remain the biggest group in parliament, has ruled
out working with the AfD. Its parliamentary chief Manfred Weber said
he would tell voters of its true nature as "ambassadors of Putin and
of Xi".
Garraud said allegations that his party and ID allies such as the
AfD were pro-Russian or accepted money were merely efforts by rivals
to demonize the right.
Last month saw the arrest of an aide of the AfD's lead candidate on
suspicion of spying for China and a report that its number two
received money from a website with links to the Kremlin, an
allegation he denies.
The message about foreign interference is starting to resonate, with
a German poll showing 75% of respondents seeing it as a danger. AfD
support has since slightly dipped.
At the AfD's EU election campaign launch in Donaueschingen, several
of the 500-odd attendees were certain the arrest was timed to hurt
the party's chances. In the wealthy corner of southwest Germany,
many supporters railed against an out-of-touch mainstream that had
backed COVID-19 lockdowns and mask mandates.
"It was the coronavirus pandemic that radicalized me," said Justus,
a besuited production engineer in his early 20s with a neatly
trimmed beard, who arrived with equally dapper friends in a BMW
convertible.
Van Rij said it was important to distinguish between the AfD along
with its disparate ID allies like RN and the broadly less radical
ECR, likely to be steered by Italy's Meloni, whose support European
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen might need to secure a
second term.
"The ECR could have a bigger impact," she said.
Stratulat said the EPP would play a central role. It might team up
with the hard right on a few issues, such as migration, or simply
shift rightwards itself, such as over green measures.
The Greens say the future of green policies and European security
will be vital election issues.
"Do you want Russian and Chinese influence and weakening Europe?...
For them a strong Europe is the biggest danger. So they want to
weaken Europe. And let's be honest, the far right will weaken
Europe," Greens co-leader Bas Eickhout said.
(Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop; additional reporting by Michel Rose
in Dunkirk, Thomas Escritt in Donaueschingen; Editing by Alexandra
Hudson)
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