Euro Results

Now that the Euro election results are in we can see the full picture.  For any new law to be passed in Europe it has to gain a majority of the votes in the upper house and a majority of votes in the lower house. In the upper house that means it has to have the support of at least two of the People's Party, the Labour Party or the Liberal Democrats.  If the Conservative Party, the Green Party and UKIP all voted together they would get less than 10% support. The upper house is not directly elected - not yet anyway.  Members of the upper house are appointed by the the member governments.  Most governments in Europe are either run by the People's Party or by the socialist parties (Labour).  The Liberal Democrats are the lead party in two member states and are in coalition with the Conservatives in Britain.  The Conservative Party only governs in Britain as the senior coalition partner. The Green party is a junior coalition partner in a number of member states. The lower house of the European legislature (confusingly called the Parliament) is directly elected and the recent elections have shown gains by the Eurosceptic parties at the expense of the broad range of traditional parties.  However, although significant, these gains are not sufficient to change the law making process through Europe.     To pass a law in the lower house only the support of the People's Party and the socialist parties (Labour) is required. So despite the press coverage in Britain highlighting the landslide gains for UKIP.  The full results show that UKIP's success in Britain does not translate into any change of power at all. The Eurosceptic's success in the Euro-elections have mainly affected two important member states - France and Britain.  The National Front's gains in France and UKIP's gain in Britain mean that Britain's and France's place in Europe cannot be guaranteed.  A Europe without Britain is conceivable.  A Europe without France would be an interesting development.  A Europe without Britain or France would probably change beyond all recognition. As France' economy is still in deep trouble the National Front will probably continue to make gains.  However a lot can happen to Britain's economy before the national elections in 2015.