EU elections matter, so go out an vote, and vote smartly

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I will start by making a very confrontational statement: I love the EU!

Despite its many shortcomings I am convinced that the European Union is one of the few successful political concepts in history, similar to what ?the American Republic represented until the beginning of the 21st century.

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More than that, I firmly believe that the EU and Europe are the last light, the last beacon of hope for democracy, human rights and the principles of Enlightenment in a world between, the US possibly slipping into a state of dysfunctional semi-authoritarianism, an aggressive Russia hell-bent on restoring some mythical greatness or an overbearing China!

For me the biggest achievement of the “European Project” is still that countries that have been at war almost constantly for a thousand years have been able to live in peace and prosper for almost 80 years now. ( I hear the social media historians going: “yeah but…Kosovo”… honestly, read a book).

Of course, the EU needs to change if it wants to fulfill the legitimate expectations of the 450 million citizens.

As an example, while liberalization of air transport has enabled EU citizens to travel to almost every corner of Europe at reasonably cheap (and often at un-reasonably cheap) prices, and has created thousands of jobs and opportunities, the EU has failed to balance this with creating a socially sustainable environment for the workforce.

I would also wish the EU to have the courage of its convictions and speak credibly, with one voice, both to its citizens and to the outside world in terms of human rights, defense or climate change.

I would wish the EU to be less tolerant of Member States that are happy to pocket EU subsidies while undermining the functioning of the Union and eroding democratic principles at home. (or cozying up to dictators)

Away from the urban myth of regulating the size of bananas, the EU provides high standards of health and safety at work, consumer rights, food and water hygiene and safety and many more that make our collective lives easier and safer.

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As in every election, the populists, the dabblers in extremes come crawling from under the rocks to play on our frustrations and try to sell us simple solutions for complex problems. These snake oil salesman that deal in cynism and dystopia, this unholy alliance of con-men, opportunists and small minds seem to have a reasonable shot at becoming a large faction in the EU parliament this time, simply because many EU citizens will not use their privilege to vote!

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Sometimes we need to be reminded, while we lounge on our IKEA (or Roche-Bobois) sofas, feeding on dairy-free vegan ice cream while binge-watching Netflix to forget about the futility of existence and wallowing in self-pity about the harshness of our lives, somewhere, someone is being persecuted for their ideas or simply their looks, and someone is being killed for standing up for their beliefs!

In part thanks also to the European Project, our generations has been spared many of the hardships and battles that our grandparents and countless generations before them had to endure and if we want to avoid that our children have yet again to confront some of these hardships, we have to use our right to vote in these coming elections and use it wisely!

(Disclaimer: The above thoughts and the occasional sarcasm are my own and do exclusively represent my opinions as an EU citizen....)

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