The centre right has held its own, the left has taken a battering, and newcomers – from Eurosceptics to the extreme right – have made their debut in a fragmented Europe

“This is undoubtedly an extremely sad evening for social democracy in Europe. For us it’s downright bitter.”

These are the words of Martin Schulz, chairman of the PSE, the socialist group in the European Parliament, in response to the heavy losses among the leftwing parties.

Midnight was approaching on Sunday in the European parliament building in Brussels when the results of the four-day European election marathon were announced. During the evening the expectations of defeat had been showing on the faces of the PSE leadership. “Perhaps it won’t be too bad after all,” hazarded the occasional optimist. But at 11.15pm the prognoses turned into hard figures: the PSE had plummeted from 218 seats to 158.

As camera crews chased the winners – centre right, greens and newcomers – disillusioned socialists roam the corridors. Dutch Labour MEP Jan Marinus Wiersma, who had already announced his departure before the elections, might have hoped for a more cheerful farewell.

“Many people expected the social democrats to have profited most from the economic crisis. That hasn’t happened. And I think its because we haven’t been able to make clear that the formulas to fight the crisis come from us, and are safe in our hands.”

Wide choice
More than 375 million Europeans were entitled to vote for the new, smaller EU parliament, cut from 785 to 736 seats. With no less than 656 parties on the ballot papers in EU as a whole, there was no lack of choice. And the urgency to stand up and be counted seemed greater than ever. Who could offer a safe pair of hands to manage a continent reeling from the effects of the financial and economic crisis? The European Union needs to strengthen its position in a rapidly globalising world, where Asian superpowers like India and China are gaining influence.

Nevertheless, only 43 percent of the European electorate actually took the trouble to vote. Back in 1979 the turnout was 62 percent, at the last elections in 2004 it was 45.5 percent. The downward trend has continued, and that made for few cheerful faces in Brussels. Neither in the predominantly Christian democratic European People’s Party (EPP), which limited its losses to eighteen seats (288 in 2004, now 270), nor among the European Greens, despite gains lifting them from 42 to 53 seats.

Sunday night was dominated by disappointment at the low turnout. Does it mean the EU is still an ‘Unidentified Political Object’, as former president of the European Commission Jacques Delors once said? The European Parliament spent no less than 18 million euros on the campaign to lure voters to the polls, with famous footballers and an astronaut at the forefront.

Unease
“A football match in an empty stadium,” is how the erudite European correspondent Bernard Bulcke of the Belgian daily De Standaard describes it. He says the lack of a clear message from the established parties has made room for Eurosceptic politicians and newcomers who don’t want to join the existing groups in parliament. They have taken a total of 87 seats, including four for the Dutch populist anti-Islam politician Geert Wilder’s Freedom Party. The rise of the newcomers is as source of unease among veteran MEPs.

“The political landscape is fragmenting,” observes Bernard Bulcke. “Established parties are having difficulty maintaining their positions. In European elections – more than in national elections – you have the effect that voters are rather more libertine in casting their vote.”

In Hungary this libertine attitude produced a spectacular gain for Jobbik (3 seats), an ultra-nationalist, anti-European party. Jobbik leaders are openly anti-Semitic and promise a "final solution to the gypsy problem". Intense dissatisfaction has been brewing in Hungary because the governing Socialist Party has been unable to offer solutions for the country’s deep economic crisis.

Battle-weary
The elections also herald the departure of the President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering, who has come to the end of his term. In the vast parliament chamber, there is a tense silence as he evaluates the low turnout.

“We have to consider how this can be improved over the coming years. It calls for improved cooperation between political parties and the media. But it’s something we need to discuss further in the future.”

Mr Pöttering’s words sound hollow and he receives little support from the chamber. Are the MEPs battle-weary? It seems more like the election has dented European democracy’s self-confidence.

Listen to Newsline's Davion Ford interviewing RNW Brussels correspondent Vannessa Mock on the EU election results and their consequences for European citizens: