Why these European elections really matter

By Claude Moraes MEP / @ClaudeMoraesMEP

These are tough political times for any politician campaigning in an election, and so it is for those from the mainstream political parties campaigning for the European elections. At the outset I want to underline the Labour MEPs’ pledge on expenses, which is that Labour MEPs have for the past decade been required to have a full registered audit of their expenditure and use of public money. Their audit certificates have gone online every year since 2000. In addition, Labour MEPs going into the new Parliament will publish online detailed information about their use of public money. Notwithstanding the white noise of the expenses scandal, what are the issues at stake regarding the role of the European Parliament?

Originally, the European Parliament was an entirely appointed assembly with no powers, but today it is a powerful institution with real influence over many areas of our lives. The elections on 4 June should be seen as more than just 27 national referenda. The reality, of course, is that in most EU member states a great deal of the voting will clearly be on domestic issues – but it is important that the achievements of MEPs are not completely lost.

European elections clearly do not, on their own, create high turnouts. Too often European elections are seen as a test of national governments and whether voters approve or disprove of their record. In that climate, it has always been a challenge to inform the public of the importance and impact of the European Parliament on their daily lives, but this is a challenge we as MEPs and candidates in June’s election must take up.

In the current UK climate this job is even harder with at best voter apathy and at worst voter anger over recent stories over MPs’ expenses. I have been all over London on the campaign trail and the anger felt by voters is clear. The public mood is hostile and some are ready to express this hostility using their votes to back the BNP or other fringe parties. In a low turnout election, this can result in a disproportionate boost to the BNP and fringe parties and magnify their true levels of support. It is therefore even more important that those of us who support our membership of the EU make our case more forcefully to counter this difficult political climate.

Labour has a good record in the European Parliament, achieving real victories for our constituents, and it is important we communicate this effectively to our voters. In this parliament, Labour MEPs fought hard to extend anti-discrimination measures for the disabled, the LGBT community and older people with clear dividing lines between us and the Conservatives and other right wing groupings who oppose such measures in the Parliament.

We have also secured employment rights for Britain’s 1.3 million agency workers with the strong backing of Gordon Brown and the government. Now unscrupulous employers will no longer be able to avoid employment protections for agency staff that full and part-time workers enjoy.

Labour MEPs have also helped secure key measures on climate change, reduced costs for consumers on flights and mobile phone calls, helped stop the flow of replica weapons onto the UK’s streets and took action in the Parliament against the evils of people trafficking.

On all of this we should be rightly proud but the work does not stop there. We need to secure as many Labour MEPs as possible to ensure that the centre-right dominance of the European Parliament comes to an end so we on the left can bring about real change to the EU bringing it closer to our constituents and making a difference to people’s everyday lives.

The Tories are intent on dragging Britain to the sidelines of Europe by leaving the centrist European People’s Party, which is a signal that they wish to take an isolationist stance, joining forces with fairly extreme European political parties like the Polish Law & Justice party and the Czech ODS. These political parties have agendas that would be a surprise to most mainstream voters and mainstream Conservatives in the EU including Merkel and Sarkozy who have registered their disquiet. The Tories want to withdraw the UK key measures such as the Social Chapter, which gave British citizens improved maternity rights, paternity rights and guaranteed paid leave. We in Labour are an internationalist party and strongly believe it is in our national interest to be at the heart of Europe, shaping key decisions that affect our lives, not sitting on the sidelines.

If the Lisbon Treaty is ratified the European Parliament is set to get more powers to legislate, amend and scrutinise and this means we have to work harder to ensure we can return many Labour MEPs to Brussels. We must get out and campaign hard to stop the BNP gaining a platform and to highlight the Tories’ isolationism, but most of all so we can deliver on our commitment to social justice and fairness for all.

The political narrative for us is very clear. We understand how European parliament elections can be seen as a national referendum but to continually step back from making the progressive case for Europe will ultimately cause damage as UK citizens feel further distance from law making which will affect our lives. For this reason amongst many I will continue with my fellow candidates to help make that case.

Claude Moraes is a Labour member of the European Parliament for London and is standing in the European elections on 4 June.