If at European if many went to vote – voting booths open today from 3pm – it would be a surprise. A nice surprise. That doesn’t mean it won’t happen, even if turnout forecasts say that at least one Italian voter in two won’t go to the polls. Because skepticism is rampant about this Europe which as it is does not work, which is too invasive or too distant from the needs of citizens, does too much or rather does too little, is technocratic and not very democratic, and so on. Criticisms that are sometimes exaggerated but not always unfounded, yet there are a series of reasons – we have identified six – which perhaps would make it convenient for the voters of our country to participate in this vote which is of crucial importance also because it takes place in a particular moment which it is the one in which either Europe takes a step forward, in the chessboard of the world in which geopolitical balances have been upset and wars rage even near us, or the EU risks becoming an empty acronym or filled only with its own impotence.
The first reason for being in the voting booth is that faced with Russia’s aggressiveness, the United States tempted to disengage (especially if Trump wins) from their role (anti-historical? yes! We are not at the time of the Normandy landings) as protectors of the ‘Europe, China which is the giant that we know and so on, a strengthening of the European Union is necessary. Because Germany, France or Italy, alone, would count for little or nothing in the international scenario. And therefore the more participatory the choice of a new Europe is, the more this new Europe can play as a top player.
Reason number two is this. Europe may be disappointing in the eyes of many citizens – but let’s remember that in the fight against Covid it has proven to be strong and that for us Italians the Pnrr is a worthy project – and yet it is an organism that can be improved if it is given popular strength to reform. That is: a great injection of confidence in Europe is what can push Europe to make some decisive reforms: birth of common defence; abolition of the principle of unanimity in community decisions; direct election of the president of the EU Commission, which coincides with that of the European Council, thus offers citizens the possibility of choosing in a popular way and not mediated by the interests of parties and techno-bureaucracies who should lead this institution.
The number three reason that should push us to the polls is simple: 80 percent of Italian laws are ratifications and applications of European laws and directives. It is between Brussels and Strasbourg (more so in the former than in the latter) that the games are decided.
The fourth reason for mobilization is that the less Italy there is in Europe, the more we end up being strangers, and therefore passive, to the decisions that are made. And therefore, give a broad mandate to our representatives, push them forcefully, and choose the most competent among them (and not, as has often happened in the past, party rejects or individuals to be recycled or rewarded). In short, we need Italian parties that are highly supported by internal public opinion, both to rival the others in the European Parliament and to leave less scope for the very powerful Brussels bureaucracies and lobbies that do not respond to any popular mandate.
THE CHANCES AND THE TEST
Another reason, number five, can be summarized as follows. This time there is the possibility, albeit very complex and linked to many variables (the first is the not unlikely failure of Ursula von der Leyen to encore), that an Italian could become president of the EU Commission. Let’s talk about Antonio Tajani. And there is the certainty that after the vote, in the formation of the new EU Commission and in the decision on the structures for the next five years, Giorgia Meloni will be a key figure in the various matches. To be more substantial, these two opportunities for Italy need to be supported by the widest possible electoral participation. And it is not an interest of the center-right alone, but of the country system to have compatriots who count in the EU. The sixth reason for voting-voting-voting is that by voting for the European elections, which are still a factor even in an Italian perspective, you can get the measure of what it is today – two years after the victory of the center-right in the September 2022 elections – the photograph of consensus among the various parties and leaders. If few people vote, less than 50 percent, the x-ray of the political tendencies of the population is very partial and not very indicative. One might say, at this point, good rating. So, let’s say it!
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