Gerardo Morina on nation-oriented thinking in Europe

Gerardo Morina comments in the liberal Swiss daily Corriere del Ticino on voters' clear disinterest in Europe, identifying a tendency among Europeans to think along national lines: "Once more voters were characterised by their low enthusiasm for European issues. ... This almost complete indifference not only corroborates a widespread chronic behaviour, it also results from three factors closely linked to the elections. The first is that these EU elections took place during the worst social and economic crisis of the post-war era. The second factor has to do with a perceived crisis of values, visions and leaders. The third factor is decisive however, and played the biggest role in these elections. Without exception, they were dominated by an overwhelming interest in the national dimension. In part this was because local elections were held concurrently with the EU elections in several countries, and overshadowed the significance of the EU institutions. If it becomes the norm to hold EU elections at the same time as local votes, the national votes cold well smother the European elections and have them all but disappear. If that happens, as also seems to be the case this time around, it means that ... the concurrence of the state as a political and geo-political entity and of the nation as a cultural or ethnic entity leaves no room for other horizons."

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