EU citizens will take to the polls on May 23 to select who will represent them in the European Parliament. The UK could be roped into holding elections too, after Prime Minister Theresa May asked EU leaders to postpone Brexit from next Friday until June 30. But the election results may be chaotic regardless of Brexit, as Italy’s far-right League is already making its mark in the country, while Marine Le Pen’s National Rally is very close behind President Emmanuel Macron’s La Republique en Marche in France, according to Politico’s projections.
Luis Garicano, an economics professor and a member of the Ciudadanos party in Spain, warned the rise of populism was due to the EU’s failure to “solve the problems” of its citizens.
He said to respected politics website Politico: “The pro-European forces have to fight together against populism and nationalism.
“However, I also think that the two incumbent powers, the socialists and the EPP, have been to some extent responsible to the inability of Europe to solve the problems of citizens that have caused this backlash.”
The UK was never meant to be part of the EU elections, as it was originally scheduled to withdraw from the European bloc on March 29.
But Mrs May’s failure to get her deal approved by British MPs means there has been a delay.
No backup plan has been made yet if Britain leaves the EU with no deal in the middle of the election campaign.
If the UK does take part in the elections, the EU will need to allow more candidates to stand, even though there is no guarantee of their political future.
Jean-Claude Juncker’s position as President of the European Commission is also up for grabs.
Manfred Weber, the candidate from The European People’s Party is promoting the Spitzenkandidat process for this position.
He wants the European Council to choose a “lead candidate” from the European Parliament election to run the EU executive.
However. the European Council has insisted it cannot be bound by the system when it nominates a candidate for the Commission presidency later this year.
Mr Weber said in a recent interview with the German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel: “It should not be forgotten that most of the European parties and many heads of state and government have supported the Spitzenkandidat principle.
“If they suddenly forget this, that would be a huge step backwards for the democracy and participation of voters in Europe.”
The process will make the European election more like a national one, as a leader from one of the big parties will win the top job.
Many are also opposed to this system, which has resulted in further chaos just before the elections take place.
Bobby McDonagh, a former Irish ambassador to the EU said: “When it comes to choosing people for these top jobs, there is a playoff between the president of the Commission and now the vice president, high representative, president of the European Parliament, and other positions.
“The balances are extremely complex. There’s the right-left balance, but there’s also the east-west balance, which is probably even more important. There’s also the male-female balance. I don’t think it will be acceptable in this day and age not to have a woman in one of the top jobs. And then there’s large vs. small. For example, you can’t have another Luxembourger as president of the Commission.”
