Brussels – A strong showing at the European Parliament elections in May 2019 could give the European Union’s populists powerful tools to advance their agenda even if they remain in the minority, a new report said on Monday.
The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), a pro-EU think-tank warned that the share of far-right and right-wing eurosceptic lawmakers in the EU legislature was projected to rise from the current 23 per cent to 28 per cent.
ECFR noted that it could even increase to over 30 per cent.
“Its research is based on data published on Jan. 3 by the Poll of Polls, an aggregation project.
“If they cross the one-third threshold, this would signify a qualitative change in the EU,’’ Susi Dennison and Pawel Zerka of the ECFR wrote in Monday’s report.
They found that by gaining control of 33 per cent of seats, populist parties would be able to influence top appointments to the European Commission.
They also found that they would be able to thwart rule-of-law proceedings against EU member states, such as the one launched against Hungary in 2018.
Moreover, a unified populist bloc could slow down or block key legislation, for example on international agreements requiring parliamentary approval.
The legislature also has the final say on the annual EU budget and long-term spending plans, with the next cycle due to start in 2021.
“A strong populist plurality could drag out talks and stymie agreement on such issues.
“Unfortunately for beleaguered internationalist Europeans, the election really does matter.
“Populists’ ability to paralyse decision-making at the centre of the EU would defuse pro-Europeans’ argument that the project is imperfect but capable of reform,’’ the report noted. (dpa/NAN)