Two weeks ago European Policy Centre's Corina Stratulat, together with Attila Kovacs, were kind enough to have me on a panel about the upcoming European Parliament elections. Below is the recording and 7 ideas I shared:
1. "European politics is increasingly resembling Eurovision, with alliances and performances that play into identity politics [rather than content]."
2. "The European Parliament, to its credit, is far better at communicating the get-out-the-vote campaign and engaging in global issues."
3. "We see an increasing distinction between those who question the system and those who are unhappy with the *decisions* of the system."
4. "We should not be stuck in our Brussels bubble but listen to the diverse trends, priorities, and voices of Europeans."
5. "Foreign policy, like Ukraine, shows a clear divide between some components of ID and ECR, e.g. the Polish Law and Justice party, which is relatively pro-Atlantic and pro-Ukraine [compared to some of its regional peers]."
6. "The severity of the problem with Russian [and other] interference is not properly understood or taken seriously enough even though it has massive implications for the EU's very existence."
7. "EU institutional reform is essential, especially decision-making reform, to make the EU more effective with [the possibility of an] expanding membership to 30+ countries."