Low appetite for EU liberals’ election campaign kick-off

EU liberals kicked off their campaign for June’s European election to a muted reception amid internal divisions that have forced the multi-party alliance to agree on a joint electoral programme of the lowest common denominators.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas was the only national leader who showed up in person to launch the campaign – but interest in her speech was relatively low.

“I must say, I’m not used to talking to a crowd that doesn’t really listen,” Kallas said bluntly a few minutes into her speech as attendees talked over her.

“But you know, we are liberals,” she quipped, “everybody is doing what they want to do.”

“But these are serious things that we are talking about here,” she stressed.

Attendance at the Brussels event from high-ranking national politicians was poor, and even Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo did not attend, opting instead to send a video message.

French President Emmanuel Macron did not do even that, although two of the three lead candidates from his camp, Valérie Hayer and Sandro Gozi, made the trip.

The EU leaders’ unavailability could be attributed to the European Council summit on Thursday and Friday.

This was in stark contrast to the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) congress in early March, a show of force and unity attended by all conservative prime ministers and opposition leaders from across the bloc, or the Socialist campaign kick-off, where German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez spoke on the podium.

No campaigning for a top job

The EU liberals are running on a joint platform composed of the three main factions, all of which have put forward a representative into a “Team Europe” of lead candidates who will guide the alliance through the EU elections.

“We are not campaigning for tough jobs here, we are campaigning for European people. Ursula von der Leyen and Nicolas Schmid are campaigning for themselves, for jobs,” said Valérie Hayer, referring to the lead candidates of the EPP and Social Democrats.

Several officials confirmed that had transnational lists been a reality for the elections, the liberals would have agreed on a sole lead candidate for the top job.

But, as EU countries continue to block such electoral reform, the liberals opted for more unknown profiles that will not campaign for a top job but rather for “influence.”

“We are campaigning for people, for Europe, for having influence in the European Parliament,” Valérie Hayer, one of the lead candidates representing France’s Renaissance and also president of Renew Europe group, told the press – as the liberal forces are projected to lose ground in the elections.

Asked whether the liberals still seek to lay claim to one of the EU’s coveted top jobs, Hayer affirmed that some names are already being floated. “You can count on us (…) We have strong voices and faces at the EU level,” she said.

Watered down electoral priorities

In addition to the three lead candidates, the alliance also has a 10-point electoral programme outlining the liberal priorities for the coming legislative term.

However, the common points fail to put forward specific policy proposals, instead tabling 10 general commitments to defence, the Green Deal, Europe’s industry, migration, and EU reform.

Such a broad proposal can be attributed to the divergence of opinions among the various factions. The opinions of the various liberal parties differ heavily on prominent policy fields such as climate and environment and industrial or fiscal policy.

The liberals’ newly appointed lead candidate team acknowledged the divergence among the factions: “Liberals are liberals because they have their own view of things,” said Marie-Agnes Strack Zimmermann, the lead candidate of the biggest liberal party, ALDE.

“They are not lemmings who simply run after whatever the boss says. But what unites us is our love of freedom,” she added.

For example, on the Green Deal, some ALDE members, such as Strack Zimmerman’s FDP party, are keen to backtrack on Green legislation, while Hayer, representing France’s Renaissance, affirmed that she opposes reopening any Green Deal file in the next term.

In the common priorities, the factions have agreed to call for a regulatory pause and focus on implementation instead.

On fiscal policy, the programme avoids mentioning public investments and joint EU borrowing despite calling for an “Investment Commission” to avoid rifts between the conservative German position on the topic and other more flexible stances, such as the French.

[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic/ Alice Taylor]