Electing a New Parliament

Another debating society or a strong force for unity?

Turning points in history have a way of slipping by unnoticed. That may be the case this week and next, June 7 and 10, the dates of the first direct elections ever held for a European Parliament. In the nine nations of the European Community (E.G.), 180 million eligible voters will be electing a total of 410 representatives. Except in Britain, the Euro-parliamentarians will be chosen by proportional representation in their home countries: based mainly on population, West Germany, France, Britain and Italy are allotted 81 seats, while the five smaller members have between six and 25 seats. Unprecedented as it is, the election so far has failed to stir interest among voters, who tend to consider it a ceremonial exercise without impact on their daily lives. After all, there was the old Parliament: in existence since 1958, its 198 members were parliamentarians appointed by national governments, and it constituted an expensive debating society with only limited powers. Why should a popularly elected body do any better?

At first, there certainly will be little change. But a surprising number of European political leaders believe that in time the new Parliament will evolve into a fresh force for European unity. Indeed, opponents of the idea, mainly some French Gaullists, British Laborites and Danish anti-E.C. groups, fear that the assembly might become a threat to the sovereign powers of the member nations.

Both fears and hopes are premature. No one is sure what role the new institution will play, and that very uncertainty has contributed to the voters' apathy during the campaign. For weeks, some 3,000 candidates representing more than 80 political parties from the extreme left to the far right have been on the stump, each pleading a vision of a new Europe. Though each country elects only its own candidates, major political parties--Socialists, Christian Democrats, Liberals --have formed loose al liances across national boundaries in what could be viewed as the embryo of a new layer of political order in Europe.

Among the candidates are some of Europe's most distinguished political figures. Former West German Chancellor Willy Brandt, a Social Democrat, is running the hardest, having campaigned not only at home but in France, The Netherlands, Luxembourg and Italy to boost the Socialist cause everywhere. In France, Gaullist Leader and former Premier Jacques Chirac, who opposes a supranational Europe, has turned the European election into something of a domestic contest to gauge his electoral strength against that of President Valery Giscard d'Estaing, whom he will probably challenge for the presidency in 1981. The polls last week showed Chirac lagging far behind Simone Veil, Giscard's Minister of Health, who heads the list for the President's centrist lineup, and Francois Mitterrand, the top Socialist candidate in France. The most interesting contender in Italy is Communist Party Boss Enrico Berlinguer, demonstrating the Euro part of his Communism.

Most of the candidates are convinced that Europe at last has a new opportunity to move forward, and that is the message they are giving the voters. "We shall have the big stars of European politics in the Parliament," says France's Edgard Pisani, a former Minister of Agriculture under Charles de Gaulle and now a Socialist candidate. "That is one reason why this Parliament can have great political influence. It has the power to analyze, inform and publicize, and it could give a European opinion on the great issues of the day."

That was part of the dream of the founders of postwar Western Europe, who envisaged economic cooperation leading toward ever closer political unity. Yet on paper, the powers of the European Parliament remain pitifully small. It will be essentially a consultative body with limited budgetary powers. But it could challenge the European Council, the Community's real lawmaking body, and the European Commission, its administrative arm. Such efforts could threaten the E.C.'s inner workings.

To be effective, the new Parliament will have to depend on the prestige of its members and public opinion. Says Candidate Leo Tindemans, former Premier of Belgium: "Did you ever hear of any parliament that got all its powers on a plate by itself?" One plan is to organize public hearings on major issues and invite national Cabinet ministers to testify publicly. "It will be politically impossible for ministers involved in European policy to refuse to come," says Tindemans.

The new assembly will be organized not on national but on party lines. The Socialists, led by Brandt, are expected to win about 130 of the 410 seats. The Christian Democrats, with Tindemans bidding for leadership, are counting on around 100 members. Italy's Altiero Spinelli, a former Common Market commissioner and now a Communist candidate, says that parliamentary majorities will be formed "by country on some issues, by party on others, and on others by Europe itself."

Spurring the Euro-Parliament on will be Europe's increasing sense of frustration that its economic strength has yet to be translated into more decisive voice in world affairs. "The major questions of the day are being decided by the superpowers," complains Tindemans. "The Middle East, the source of our oil, the SALT signing in Vienna, raw materials. All these things are being done over our heads, and we Europeans must have a voice."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.