Update on the European Elections (and media coverage)

France 24 has set up its own page on the European elections, where you can see the current president of the EP, Hans-Gert Poettering, facing questions from young people on issues and how Europe can/should deal with them.

Personally, I found Poettering's answers very disappointing: he waffled on and didn't answer some of the first questions put to him. On one question he didn't make it clear where the responsibility for decision-making lies - blathering on about the need to work together rather than properly addressing the issue. Since his role was to explain what the EP could do for citizens and to encourage young people to vote, I have to give him a fail on this occasion - he gave no real sense of what the EP was for and what it could do for citizens.

Another story is Sarkozy and Merkel's common campaigning for the EPP - and Merkel's thinly veiled criticism of the UK Conservative's championing of enlargement while not facing up to the need for reform by embracing the Lisbon Treaty. Though it seems not to have made much of an impact over in the UK (the BBC haven't reported it anyway), it will probably be used by the Liberal Democrats and Labour to bash the Tories' weakeness/highlight their isolation in Europe.

The LibDems have just launched their election campaign. I wasn't impressed with their Public Election Broadcast (PEB) on the BBC: no mention of Europe, just a promotional video for the still new-ish leader Nick Clegg. Quite disappointing, since Clegg used to be an MEP. However, at the launch Clegg stressed the need for the EU and gave specific examples of how it was a positive force for Britain.

The Irish Independent and the Irish Times have increased their coverage of the European elections, with sections of their papers devoted to the campaign leading up to the June 5th polls.

Poettering and France 24

This Sunday (May 10th*), the outgoing President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Poettering, will feature on a special programme on the EP for France 24. It's a debate on "Young People and Europe".

15 young Europeans will address questions to Poettering on a range of issues, though why Europe matters/why they should bother voting will probably take up a lot of the programme. Poettering will also be joined by Monica Frassoni of the EFA/Greens.

It's not quite an election debate, but it could be interesting to see how effectively the EP/MEPs are trying to put themselves across, and to see how Poettering himself will fare - apparently he didn't do too well when Julien Frisch saw him - just an off day?


*2.10pm and 8.10pm Paris time.