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TOWARDS A FEDERAL EUROPE
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decisions if there is a full and much-needed re-
turn to a shared method of operating.
This new cycle has begun with the develop-
ment of an ambitious programme, sustained by
the three major pro-European political forces
(People’s Party, Party of European Socialists, and
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe),
set out in President Juncker’s inauguration
speech on 15 July 2014, supported by approxi-
mately 60 per cent of the European Parliament,
a clear majority that reflects strong support for
the implementation of these commitments by
the Commission.
This programme is innovative in some areas,
such as the Plan for Investment for Growth or
the establishment of a “more powerful player”
in world politics. However, it is insufficient in
other areas, such as defence of the European
social model or the need for constitutional re-
forms in a federal direction, in which regard the
programme rules nothing in or out, although
there was, to a greater or lesser degree, a clear
commitment to such reforms in the election
manifestos of the main political forces men-
tioned above and during the campaign itself.
As a result, this legislature differs from those
that preceded it: firstly, because the President of
the Commission has been appointed taking into
account the results of the elections, as seen in
the vote in favour by the majority of the
Chamber; and secondly, because the European
Parliament will henceforth more closely resem-
ble national parliaments in the way it operates,
with some groups supporting the government
and others opposing it.
A Parliament with more legitimacy and
more political power
The results of the European elections (despite
the fears of a Eurosceptic victory) produced a
Parliament with a clear commitment to the
European project, which will provide political
stability and majorities in favour of the reforms
needed. At the same time, these results show
that governability is easier in the Europe-wide
context than in some member states, with clearly
anti-European parties, whose commitment to
democracy is questionable, winning in France
and the United Kingdom, for example, although
in other countries these populist and anti-Euro-
pean forces, while making progress, failed to
achieve victory at the polls.
The new European Parliament differs in its
composition from the preceding legislature. The
People’s Party, together with the Alliance of
Liberals and Democrats for Europe, no longer
have an absolute majority. The gap between left
and right has shrunk, and for the first time a
single president (German social democrat,
Martin Schulz) will remain in office for the full
five years of the legislature. Previously, this posi-
tion was shared between the People’s Party and
a member of the Party of European Socialists,
with each party nominating a candidate for two
and a half years.
Within the European Parliament, none of
the six largest parliamentary groups contain any
of the anti-European parties, which have either
established weak and insignificant political
groupings of their own or have ended up in the
Non-Attached Members group. In other words,
they have almost no influence over the European
political decision-making process, and only use
the Parliament to publicize their own existence.
As a result, the European Parliament is al-
ready very close to functioning according to the