Posted Sunday, May 30, 2004; 14:48 BST
William Abitbol doesn't much like the European Union. He disdains the common currency and the lack of control France has over interest rates. He'd like to abolish the European Parliament — yet he's a member of it. The M.E.P. from the Rally for France party has been campaigning all over the country's southwest to persuade voters to give him a second term in the belly of the beast. Euro-skeptics like Abitbol are hoping that like-minded politicians from the new member states will boost their numbers and their clout in the E.U.'s only directly elected body. Hard-core Euro-skeptics hold about 10% of the Parliament's seats, but they're scattered across the political spectrum. Polls suggest they'll add to their ranks in next week's elections. Dane Jens-Peter Bonde, leader of the anti-E.U. Group for a Europe of Democracies and Diversities (EDD), has predicted "the [number of] Euro-critical members of the Parliament will double, giving them the swing vote" needed to pass or block legislation in close votes — if they could unify.
That may be optimistic, but there are signs that Central and Eastern Europe are swinging the Euro-skeptics' way. In the Czech Republic, the Civic Democrats — the party of President Václav Klaus, a fierce Brussels critic — are in the lead with 27% support. And in Poland, the anti-E.U. Samoobrona (self- defense) is projected to haul in at least 12 of 54 seats. Party leader Andrzej Lepper plans to create a new bloc with the goal of making Europe "a Europe of fatherlands," he told TIME.
Current M.E.P.s doubt the Euro-skeptic influx will shift the tenor of Parliament. "The big groups divide power among themselves," says Finn Esko Seppänen, a left-wing Euro-skeptic. It's rare for small groups to play a leading role. Which is why Jan Zahradil, head of the Civic Democrats' parliamentary effort, says that to have an impact, his M.E.P.s must, like Britain's Tories, join the center-right European People's Party, which is expected to return as the largest group. Says Zahradil: "As an isolated group, we can't do anything."
Abitbol can testify to that. "My work is to be an opponent," he says, "as part of a tiny opposition, with no real impact." At least he's realistic.
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