European constituency against insularity

The constitutional commission of the European Parliament has spoken out in favour of creating a transnational electoral constituency whose 25 candidates would be elected by all Europeans. The daily De Morgen welcomes the idea: "Europe still runs the risk of being reduced to a a purely monetary, economic project. ... In many member states we are seeing a revival of a political nationalism almost exclusively based on xenophobia and self-interest. One of the factors that aids this trend is that the political markets on which votes must be won are defined by national borders. Consequently politicians only stand to benefit by telling as many of their own citizens as possible just what they want to hear. A European electoral constituency is no panacea for this problem, but at least it would give politicians a chance to campaign at a broader level for the project of Europe - in which so many voters still believe."

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