European Trends

In the past month this blog has covered Human Rights, the role of states & the balancing acts of Liberty. Now seems as good as any to look at the political situation in Europe, where these are all issues of consequence:

It seems that the coalition's favourite line that says 'the cuts are necessary and whoever had to make them would suffer politically' is bearing weight in Europe. In Spain, President Zapatero's long standing Socialist Worker's Party (PSOE) government has engaged in cuts much like the Conservative-Liberal Democrat government in the UK. And much like in the UK, Mr Zapatero's government has suffered protests against it's economic policies (Tremlett, 2011) and a great increase in support for the opposition in the polls.

The question is whether this confirms the necessity but unpopularity of cuts regardless of party; or confirms that the unpopularity of the policy is due to an underlying unfairness. Is it sensible policy advised by financial experts; or symptomatic of a system with undue focus on favouring the finance industry, an issue common to Britain & Spain?

Supporters of a Federal Europe will be enheartened by a European Parliament special committee's report on the financial crisis (Beres, 2011). The report isn't binding but is certainly informing, particularly when we consider that the negotiations about the future of EU funding are still ongoing. The decision to accept the report passed the committee stage with a majority of 32 to 9 and it faces a vote by the whole parliament in July. The main recommendations of the report are that a major increase to the EU's budget and much closer economic & political union present the best solution to the weaknesses exposed by the financial crisis (Beres et al, 2011).

Pervenche Beres, French Socialist MEP and author of the report, expressed a belief that its recommendations represent a lesson learned but also the means to compete with the giant economic superpowers of the future (The Record Europe, 2011). It certainly appears to signify an increase in support for Europe's institutions and the work they carry out; the work of elected judges at the ECHR is a highly publicised example.

Germany has taken the decision to close all seventeen of its Nuclear plants by 2022 (BBC, 2011). The decision has promised to cause something of a rift; in Germany due to the Merkel Government's move to accede to popular protests against nuclear power and throughout Europe as nations seek to address the hole left in the energy market and position themselves politically in light of this move.

And finally in the UK, Deputy Prime Minister and Liberal Democrat leader Mr Nick Clegg has been working hard to get the message out that Liberal Democrats are living up to their mandate. It is most certainly a difficult sell to a public that has set its mind firmly against the party. Mr Clegg has been promoting the work the party is doing on reforming the House of Lords (Clegg, 17th May 2011) and in negotiating a better deal on NHS reform (Pack, 2011).

The Liberal Democrats, beginning even as the results rolled in on local election night in May, are seeking to regain the confidence of voters (Clegg, 6th May 2011). It is an aggressive publicity campaign aimed at showing the Liberal Democrats to be the reforming government they were elected to be and furthermore one that gets results (BBC, 2011).

That's all for now, but we will be back next week with a look in detail at the House of Lords reform proposals.

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References:
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+ Giles Tremlett's 'Spanish voters head to the polls, as city square protests continue'; May 2011;

+ Europarl.europa.eu's 'Invest more at EU level to counter crises, says Financial Crisis Committee'; May 2011;

+ Europarl.europa.eu's 'Pervenche Beres: "To get out of this crisis we need to work together"'; March 2011;

+ The Record Europe, 4th June 2011;

+ Pervanches Beres & Special Committee's 'Draft report on the financial, economic and social crisis: recommendations concerning the measures and initiatives to be taken'; March 2011;

+ BBC's 'Germany: Nuclear power plants to close by 2022'; May 2011;

+ Nick Clegg's 'Green government, reforming government: the liberal influence'; 17th May 2011;

+ Mark Pack's 'Tamed and reshaped – Clegg on the NHS White Paper'; June 2011;

+ Nick Clegg's email on the election results; 6th May 2011;

+ BBC's 'Conservative Lib Dem coalition agreement facing renewal?'; May 2011;