The European Union risks a populist-nationalist “nightmare” by the middle of the next decade unless centrists can win greater public backing for the European cause, the liberal leader Guy Verhofstadt has said.
Elections this May could herald a big shake-up of the European parliament. The duopoly of centre-right and centre-left is expected to lose its majority for the first time in 40 years of direct elections although Emmanuel Macron’s La République En Marche (La REM) is expected to win seats for the first time, boosting liberal forces.
Verhofstadt, the leader of the European parliament’s Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) since 2009, said pro-European centrists had “a last chance” after the vote to wrest back ground from nationalists and populists before the next electoral contest in 2024.
In an interview with the Guardian and five continental papers, the former Belgian prime minister said the EU needed an overhaul – managing the eurozone, migration and common defence – if it was to gain greater public support.
“Nothing is eternal. Nothing. Not all political institutions are eternal. To reform is a duty that we have … and if if we fail, then the tragedy, the nightmare will become reality,” he said. » | Jennifer Rankin in Brussels | Tuesday, March 5, 2019
