Another debating society or a strong force for unity?
Turning points in history have a way of slipping by unnoticed. That may be the case this week and next, June 7 and 10, the dates of the first direct elections ever held for a European Parliament. In the nine nations of the European Community (E.G.), 180 million eligible voters will be electing a total of 410 representatives. Except in Britain, the Euro-parliamentarians will be chosen by proportional representation in their home countries: based mainly on population, West Germany, France, Britain and Italy are allotted 81 seats, while the five smaller members have between six and 25 seats. Unprecedented as it is, the election so far has failed to stir interest among voters, who tend to consider it a ceremonial exercise without impact on their daily lives. After all, there was the old Parliament: in existence since 1958, its 198 members were parliamentarians appointed by national governments, and it constituted an expensive debating society with only limited powers. Why should a popularly elected body do any better?
At first, there certainly will be little change. But a surprising number of European political leaders believe that in time the new Parliament will evolve into a fresh force for European unity. Indeed, opponents of the idea, mainly some French Gaullists, British Laborites and Danish anti-E.C. groups, fear that the assembly might become a threat to the sovereign powers of the member nations.
Both fears and hopes are premature. No one is sure what role the new institution will play, and that very uncertainty has contributed to the voters' apathy during the campaign. For weeks, some 3,000 candidates representing more than 80 political parties from the extreme left to the far right have been on the stump, each pleading a vision of a new Europe. Though each country elects only its own candidates, major political parties—Socialists, Christian Democrats, Liberals —have formed loose al liances across national boundaries in what could be viewed as the embryo of a new layer of political order in Europe.
Among the candidates are some of Europe's most distinguished political figures. Former West German Chancellor Willy Brandt, a Social Democrat, is running the hardest, having campaigned not only at home but in France, The Netherlands, Luxembourg and Italy to boost the Socialist cause everywhere. In France, Gaullist Leader and former Premier Jacques Chirac, who opposes a supranational Europe, has turned the European election into something of a domestic contest to gauge his electoral strength against that of President Valery Giscard d'Estaing, whom he will probably challenge for the presidency in 1981. The polls last week showed Chirac lagging far behind Simone Veil, Giscard's Minister of Health, who heads the list for the President's centrist lineup, and Francois Mitterrand, the top Socialist candidate in France. The most interesting contender in Italy is Communist Party Boss Enrico Berlinguer, demonstrating the Euro part of his Communism.