EP elections 2014

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Labour's polling will probably change quite dramatically next week when Cruddas's review is finally published, especially if the reformist, populist wing win over the cautious side.

Up or down?!

I'm not sure. My gut instinct is that if Labour endorse something slightly far out (mooted ideas include train nationalisation, Scandinavian style childcare, allowing councils to borrow more for building housing,  an "NHS tax" paid for with a rise in NI contributions and intense decentralisation or federalisation); they'll at least gain a bit of energy.

Alternatively I could be completely wrong and the cautious wing are right. All of the above have fairly obvious ways to be attacked, so Labour could swing down if they mismanage it. However, I tend to disagree with this wing. People like parties who propose to do something, not just keep things as status quo. See: Milliband's rise in popularity following the "energy bills curbing" policy. That was literally the only time this parliament Labour have seized the national conversation and forced other parties to save face.

[Enno von Loewenstern]

AfD 70,7%
CSU 63,4%
FV 61%
CDU 61%
FDP 58,5%
Left 36,6%
SPD 29,3%
Greens 28%
Pirates 28%

[Tender Branson]

Tonight at 7pm local time, the first major English-speaking debate will take place on Euronews !

The top candidates attending will be:

* Jean-Claude Juncker (European People’s Party)
* Martin Schulz (Party of European Socialists)
* Guy Verhofstadt (Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party)
* Franziska Keller (European Green Party)

The debate:

The event will be held in Maastricht in the Netherlands in partnership with the European Youth Forum and the University of Maastricht.

Lasting 90 minutes, it will focus on the following themes: the economy, the future of the EU, the rise in skepticism of the EU project, immigration and European foreign policy.

The debate will be moderated by Euronews’ Isabelle Kumar, Chris Burns and myself, Mark Davis. My part in the moderation will be to monitor the social networks, taking a few of the best questions posted before and during the debate and putting them directly to the candidates.

http://www.euronews.com/2014/04/14/what-will-you-ask-the-potential-future-president-of-the-european-commission

The Euronews website will likely offer a live stream at 7pm.

The debate starts in a few minutes.

[Tender Branson]

Good god, Junckers English is baaaad ...

[Niemeyerite]

Loving Martin Schulz.

[Tender Branson]

Loving Martin Schulz.

At least he tries some jokes ...

Keller from the Greens is the only one who can speak good English, the other 3 have thick accents.

[Diouf]

Not a fan of the three presenters, and the tight structure. I think they should focus more on a few concrete areas and proposals to get some real debate instead of hurrying through a lot of short subjects and questions from the audience and the internet.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

Was Tspiras invited?

I'm actually liking Verhofstadt (I never thought I'd say that)

[Tender Branson]

Was Tspiras invited?

I'm actually liking Verhofstadt (I never thought I'd say that)

Yeah, they said in the beginning that Tsipras was invited but declined to debate.

[Tender Branson]

So, Verhofstadt attacked Juncker on Berlusconi's recent Nazi comments and Orban changing the constitution all the time and Keller attacked Juncker and his EPP on being backwards on gay rights.

The debate could need more of this ...

[SUSAN CRUSHBONE]

The German Wahl-o-mat for the European elections is available:

https://www.wahl-o-mat.de/europawahl2014/

SPD 82,6 %
PIRATEN 81,4 %
GRÜNE 80,2 %
Tierschutzpartei 75,6 %
DIE LINKE, Die PARTEI 70,9 %
FAMILIE 67,4 %
ÖDP 65,1 %
MLPD 64 %
DKP, FDP 62,8 %
PBC 54,7 %
PSG 53,5 %
Volksabstimmung 52,3 %
FREIE WÄHLER 51,2 %
CDU 50 %
AfD, CM, CSU 44,2 %
BP 39,5 %
BüSo 38,4 %
NPD 34,9 %
AUF 29,1 %
PRO NRW, REP 23,3 %

[EPG]

Well, there isn't one true English-language accent.

We are long used to hearing Continental people talking in non-EFL accents - I would say that is disproportionately true for the kind of people who watched this debate.

[Tender Branson]

Lol Schulz:

Mod: "Candidates, please make your closing remarks."

Schulz: "How much time do I have ? 15 seconds ?"

[Niemeyerite]

IMO, Martin and Guy were the cleear winners. I'd give an advantadge to the 1st., but that may be just because I like him more.

[Tender Branson]

IMO, Martin and Guy were the cleear winners. I'd give an advantadge to the 1st., but that may be just because I like him more.

Keller wasn't bad either, but it's pretty clear that Juncker had the worst performance.

[Diouf]

I think Verhofstadt did quite well. Generally the three to the left acted more like a normal debate, while Juncker often looked a bit absent and didn't really engage with the others, although that did seem to be partially due to his poorer English skills.

The debate had a somewhat better flow in the last part of the debate, but that was unfortunately on the subject of Ukraine where there were not really much difference between them. I hope the debate on 15 May will function better; it looks positive that there is only one host.
In this debate, I believe there was a number of problems. First of all, the presenters talked far too much about time; all the time saying thirty seconds, forty seconds, one minute. That is okay for opening and closing statements, but good hosts can run a debate so the time is divided quite fairly without these constant time references. It made it seem more important to keep the structure than to actually have any real debate.
Furthermore, I have yet to see a debate that gains much from switching to a "Twitter watcher" who tells how many are tweeting, trying to find out what the "consensus" is among the tweeters and to find questions. This generally works better when it is integrated in the program, and not as a seperate point that you have to get by a number of times. It can be integrated by having a social media line in the bottom of the screen with good/funny comments to the debate, and edited by a web editor behind the scenes. This editor can then also provide questions to the presenter if something genious emerges; otherwise it is often better to just keep to the prepared questions.
Finally, the presenters should have focused on fewer and clearer points. It often resulted in candidates starting out by answering other candidates' questions to get some debate, and ended up without enough time to answer the questions they were given. This often made it more like detached questions and answers instead of debate.

[justfollowingtheelections]

IMO, Martin and Guy were the cleear winners. I'd give an advantadge to the 1st., but that may be just because I like him more.

Keller wasn't bad either, but it's pretty clear that Juncker had the worst performance.

And yet he will be the next president because that's what TPTB want.  No wonder eurosceptics are gaining ground.

[RodPresident]

And among candidates in debate, Verhofstadt is the most likely Comission President.

[MaxQue]

Deutschland:

Piraten 76.3
Linke 75
Grüne 69.7
SPD 63.2
FW, FDP 61.8
CDU 59.2
CSU, AfD 56.6
NPD 44.7
REP 30.3

Other small parties are between all those.
Gutted than Piraten is first.

Osterreich:

Grüne: 236
Eu Anders: 214
SPÖ: 149
NEOS: 36
BZÖ: 22
ÖVP: -17
FPÖ: -85
REKOS: -181

[Enno von Loewenstern]

All candidates are one single awkwardness for Europe, but they well fit to Ashton and the damp rag. With one of them in the next five years we will have a eurorealstic party in the next elections, as everyone of them is an advertisement for the euroskeptics across Europe.

[EPG]

As a debate, it didn't matter to the election outcome. Two of the candidates will not come in first place, and the other two candidates will win seats if their member parties are in opposition and lose them if they're in government, and there's no guarantee that the European Council will propose any of the four, anyway. As the French-language Euronews commentators said afterwards, even Juncker really wanted to be President of the Council but the EPP needed a German-speaking candidate.

[MaxQue]

The biggest source of Euroscepticism is the German Empress, Angela Merkel, which is forcing her might to all Europe. To fix Europe, real statemen and women willing to stand up against Merkel and to not fold against her.

[Bacon King]

What exactly is "eurorealist" supposed to mean

[Enno von Loewenstern]

The biggest source of Euroscepticism is the German Empress, Angela Merkel, which is forcing her might to all Europe. To fix Europe, real statemen and women willing to stand up against Merkel and to not fold against her.

The problem for the Olive countries is not Merkel (she is a problem for german taxpayers and savers), but the EUR which just fits not for 18 divergent national economies. The incapable countries have the choice: Either they want furthermore German money, then they must fulfil requirements, or they leave the EUR, then they can do what they want. I recommend the latter.

To put it short: Don't take german money and no so called Empress will tell you what to do with it.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

I feel like the aftermath of such a terrible Tory result would cause an earthquake in the party. Their worst national showing in their history.

I'm sure that's what everyone in the media would call it, but calling a European election a 'national election' is taking a technicality for a very long walk in a very big park.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Key term here being 'that wasn't'. And which never had any chance of actually succeeding. Though, saying all that, I don't doubt that there would be internal 'trouble' in the Tory Party if they are pushed into a poor third.