EUROPEAN ELECTIONS 1989 ⟩ Against the backdrop of a vote dominated by internal conflicts, the shadow of the common market loomed large

When the inhabitants of a dozen countries went to vote for the European Parliament in June 1989, they knew that within a few years the internal market that would be created would unite the world’s economies into one, but few realized the consequences that this would have their lives.

While in the first direct elections to the European Parliament in 1979 and in the second elections five years later, the more Eurosceptic forces tended to describe the European Economic Community, the predecessor of the EU, as an unrealistic federal fantasy and the growing role of the European Parliament as its expression, in the run-up to the 1989 elections, there were few such voices to be heard, while the European Parliament was just gaining strength.

“This indicates not only that the European Parliament had begun to be accepted as a legitimate and independent institution of the European Communities, but that its aspiration for greater power could not be easily exploited either by it or by opponents of the European Communities, arguing that it was an illegal aspiration. Furthermore, in no country was the desirability of joining the European Communities a key issue around which to mobilize the electorate,” wrote renowned European expert Juliet Lodge in the book “European Parliament Elections 1989”.

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2024-01-13 06:12:00
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