EU election

EU crisis: EU election results risk leaving bloc ‘ungovernable’ as furious voters revolt

THE EU is under threat from populists who risk making the bloc “ungovernable” if they win big at the European elections in May, a commissioner warned. Voters are still scarred from the economic crisis from 2008, and will turn to populist parties in revolt against the mainstream European politicians, economics commissioner Pierre Moscovici fears.
He said: “Europe is strong but the European idea is under threat.” Mr Moscovici said The European “crisis isn’t economic, but political” he said, adding the EU was “threatened by political disagreements between member states on the meaning of the European project”. In a joint interview with Europe 1 radio, news channel CNews and newspaper Les Echos, he added: “Europe pulled itself out of the 2008/2009 economic crisis, but it is still suffering from its effects, from the scars of this crisis, which are first and foremost rising inequalities.”

The challenge, Mr Moscovici said, isn’t’ just to save Europe but to “remake” it, adding: “We need to give the European idea new meaning and ambition.”

He also commented on the May European parliamentary elections, a decisive vote billed as a bitter contest between europhiles and eurosceptics and whose outcome is expected to disrupt the bloc’s political status quo.

He said: “There is tension between those who want to continue the European adventure and those who are fighting it, and it’s a frontal battle.”

The crunch vote, which will be held on May 23-26, will pit anti-immigrant nationalists against pro-EU progressives.