By Antoine Ripoll, Minister-Counsellor, EU Delegation to ASEAN, Parliamentary affairs.
This op-ed was contributed by Antoine Ripoll for ASEANcham-EU, and reflects the author’s own views.
Of the many elections taking place in this mega-ballot year all over the world, the European elections have been one of the most consequential and one of the most scrutinised.
This exceptional interest is not only due to the size of the European electorate – a sizable 370 million people eligible to vote – or because the European Parliament is the only supranational legislator in the world, a unique and successful political laboratory.
What most want to understand really is whether the European Union, with these elections, is entering or not into a zone of political turbulence, after some 70 years of continued and resilient regional integration, despite or thanks to the numerous crises it went through and overcame: Euro crisis, migration challenges, Brexit, transatlantic tensions, COVID19, and now the illegal war of aggression in Ukraine and the tragedy unfolding in the Middle-East.
European citizens, like many in the world, are anxious. The high cost of living, the growing difficulties for a large middle-class to make ends meet and for the young generations to even afford a housing, the geopolitical fragmentations as well as the polarisation of the political debate are impactful and influence the overall political context.
Any election is an opportunity to express one’s frustration or even anger at what is perceived as social unfairness and overall uncertainty.
The European elections of June 2024 have been no exception and have concluded with a rise of opinions critical to various degrees of the EU integration process and of some of its policies. This situation is in line with what we have witnessed in most national elections in Europe in the last 5 years. The European elections actually take place at the national level, with specific electoral systems for each of the Member States of the European Union. More radical political parties, to the right, to the left and even to the centre, have been gaining popularity even in countries that until now seemed somewhat immune to this phenomenon.
However, the European Parliament that is emerging from the 6/9 June elections is in reality very similar to the outgoing one, with a constant pro-European majority consisting of centre right and centre-left mainstream parties.
Like in any democratic system, the majority will define the policies adopted by the EU co-legislators (the European Parliament representing the legitimacy of the people and the Council representing the legitimacy of the Member States) in the five years ahead.
The fact that the pro-European camp remains the majority post EU elections doesn’t necessarily mean that the political priorities will not evolve, partly to adapt to the citizens’ concerns. It appears already that two issues are gaining traction in the public debate, namely competitiveness, sustainable growth and jobs on the one hand, security and defence on the other hand, with the possible creation of a new portfolio of Defence Commissioner.
These two topics are certainly in sync with the priorities of our friends and partners in Southeast Asia, and should facilitate an even smoother EU/ASEAN cooperation in the years ahead. The EU Strategy for cooperation in the Indo-Pacific and the Strategic Partnership between ASEAN and the EU remain the cornerstones of the EU engagement in Southeast Asia.
The European Parliament will hold its constitutive session in Strasbourg mid-July, electing its President, Bureau and key political leadership positions, such as the Chairs and Vice-Chairs of parliamentary committees. Interparliamentary delegations (including the ASEAN delegation) should elect their Bureau in September.
Another task for the new Parliament will be to vote on Ursula von der Leyen’s candidacy for another term at the helm of the European Commission. This could happen as early as 18 July. Hearings of the commissioners-designate, including the High Representative for the European Union Common Foreign and Security Policy, will follow in the autumn. Parliament will then vote to approve the Commission as a whole, allowing it to take office towards the end of the year.
Seen from Southeast Asia, the European elections general outcome is therefore positive: it brings stability, continuity and predictability to our valued relationship and enables a smooth path towards the implementation of the EU Indo-Pacific strategy and of the EU-ASEAN strategic partnership.
The European Parliament’s attention to the region will no doubt continue to increase on issues like trade, with the ongoing negotiations with Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines, connectivity, development support and the people to people dimension, but also on our joined efforts to defend and promote a rules-based multilateral order and a sound global governance.
