The risk of an “ungovernable” Europe due to a rise in power of populist parties during the European elections in June is “real”, warned Stéphane Séjourné, head of the centrist group Renew Europe, on Tuesday January 9. “The risk of ungovernability is quite strong (…) if the populist parties ever manage to have a blocking minority in the European Parliament,” he explained during a press briefing in Brussels, highlighting a “populist and nationalist rise almost everywhere in Europe”.
A “very difficult” majority to compose
“The risk is to have a majority that is very difficult to compose,” continued the man who is also head of the French presidential party Renaissance. The Renew Europe group (centrists and liberals) is the third political force in the European Parliament behind the European People’s Party (EPP, right) and the Socialists and Democrats (S&D). Made up of 40 political parties, it has 100 parliamentarians of 24 nationalities.
Asked about several recent polls placing Renew Europe in fourth position, behind the Identity and Democracy group (ID, far right), Stéphane Séjourné said he was confident in his group’s ability to maintain third place and remain “the king maker ” within Parliament. He mentioned a goal of “around 90/100” elected representatives. “We have to move from convinced Europeans to convincing Europeans,” he insisted, referring to the months of campaigning to come.
Charles Michel decisive
Concerning the race for European “top jobs” which will begin after the June elections, Stéphane Séjourné said he would like his group to propose a candidate for the head of each institution (Parliament, Commission, Council). As for the specific case of the Belgian Charles Michel, current president of the European Council who has just announced that he would be a candidate in the elections to the European Parliament, he remained evasive.
“Obviously he will play an important role in our political family,” he declared, while adding that we had to “ask him” what his ambitions were. More than 400 million Europeans will be called to the polls from June 6 to 9 in the 27 countries of the Union to renew Parliament, an institution which participates in the adoption of legislation alongside member states. During the last elections, in May 2019, the participation rate was increasing, with the average for the Union standing at 50.66%.