On 25th of May it is time for the European elections. It is an ideological election. An election that affects us all, but unfortunately fails to persuade too many citizens to use their right to make their voice heard. When people, the defenders of democracy, is not those who sets the political agenda by taking advantage of their voting right we find ourselves in a democratic crises.
In the European elections 2009 the turnout in Sweden was only 45.53 percent. Note then that Sweden was not the country with the lowest turnout. In some countries in the European Union, such as Romania, Poland and Lithuania, barely 30 percent voted. The European Members and our parties have an obligation to engage people by informing and showing the difference between the different political alternatives. It for sure matters if one votes Social Democracy or Conservative.
With almost 15 years of right-wing majority in the European Parliament they have failed to achieve growth at the same time as the gaps between people as well as countries has widened. The consequences of right-wing policies are devastating.
It is clear that neoliberal policy´s has failed. We Social Democrats have for long called for an end to austerity measures and want to instead invest us out of the crises. Investments must be done, for example in infrastructure to build Europe together and facilitate environmentally friendly transport. Furthermore, we must make sure that implementation of the European Youth Guarantee is taken seriously. This is the only way to reduce the frightening high youth unemployment.In a time of deep economic crisis, the right winged majority succeeded to deepen the crisis through aggressive austerity measures which led to an increasingly high unemployment. Today, almost 26 million European citizens are unemployed. 6 million of them are young people. Meanwhile, the costs of unemployment has increased in country after country, conservatives have dismantled social safety nets.
Investments for sure assume good economy and finances which are in order. But a good economy is not achieved by increased income inequality´s and people in alienation. The answers are more and secure jobs and a good education system. Many countries in Europe are already on the verge of losing a generation to unemployment and hopelessness. If we don´t turn this trend soon, the consequences will be even more far-reaching and the possibility of recovery will become more difficult than it already is.
One of the most obvious side effects of a Europe torn apart is racist and populist parties gaining more ground in country after country. In Sweden, for example, the Sweden Democrats exercised many people’s alienation by putting various groups against each other. The European election is a choice between an open or excluding Europe. In the end, the question is whether we want a Europe that puts the need of the people or the need of the market first?
Article written by Evin Incir, IUSY Secretary General
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