COMECE Secretary General on why European Parliament elections are important
(Vatican Radio) This week the 28 EU nations will elect a new European Parliament
with up to 380 million voters choosing 751 deputies to represent them. In a statement
issued in the run-up to the elections, the Catholic Bishops of Europe reaffirmed their
support for the European project and urged all EU citizens to cast their ballot.
But what is at stake in this huge electoral process and why are opinion polls
predicting that barely 40 percent of EU citizens will bother to vote? COMECE is the
Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community and its Secretary-
General is Father Patrick Daly. He told Susy Hodges why these elections are important.
Listen
to the full interview with Father Daly:
Father Daly
described the elections to the European Parliament as a “vital moment” in the exercise
of our democratic ownership and our democratic control over “those who govern in our
name.” He said they are also important because “there are a “number of crucial
issues that can only be solved at a European level.” Among those issues, he cited
the “ increasing levels of poverty” among EU citizens and the “alarmingly high levels”
of youth unemployment.
Asked why there appears to be a disconnect between
the European Union and the citizens of the 28 member nations amidst widespread apathy
about these elections; Father Daly believes this is because the European project
is now in its third generation” and people in the continent now take its benefits
for granted. “ Most EU citizens…. have little appreciation of the historical imperatives
at its foundation”…… or of “how essential the EU is to their wellbeing and to
the overall peace and stability of Europe," he said.
Father Daly also paid
tribute to the “foundational values” of the European Union, saying they were largely
based on the Catholic Church’s social teaching and said it’s worth highlighting once
again this key contribution.