In the aftermath of the European Elections: The European Left facing new challenges

The new political conditions in the aftermath of the European elections. Which is the new balance of political forces that is being shaped? Which political divisions and conflicts became visible? What are the consequences for the radical left?

We are observing significant transformations of the challenges the left in Europe has been facing since the last EU elections in 2014. Ten years after the crisis’s outbreak, the European policies do remain the same and the there is no political reflection on the parameters that caused the crisis. The welfare state is still being shrunk, the banks have not really become more secure and though unemployment has been slightly decreased, precarious employment and flexibility in the labor market is increasing. The neoliberal laws for the labor market continuously attack the workers’ rights and the privatization of public services, especially of the health sector deepens. The social and economical inequalities within the European Union -among regions and countries are still growing and the social peace is already for years at stake. A new social contract does not seem to be part of the short-term strategy of the European institutions.

The war is on the table, therefore all the rearmament in Europe. We see the disarmament contracts terminated while the escalation of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia is preparing the ground for new war conflicts. The slipping into a new global war seems more and more possible. There are only a few and phobic answers to big global problems such as the climate change and the growing number of refugees as a result of war, hunger and worsening climate conditions. Such developments combined with  and the fear of their tremendous consequences led to the emergence of the new phase of an authoritarian and repressive neo-liberalism that is being shaped by right-wing governments with the participation of the Far right, as in Austria, Italy and Hungary. These political forces, even when they are not in government, they do define the political agenda.

As mentioned above, the political landscape for the European left is quite different in comparison with 2014. New formations of both the political and the social left have been born that wish to keep a distance from the political parties as we knew them. The social protests have a strongly non-partisan characteristic, such as the women’s protests in Poland or the protests of the Yellow Vests in France. The radical left is not the big winner of the social discontent, in contrast with the new far and populist right. We are at the same time quite divided both at the national and the European level.

Goal of the Seminar

The goal of the Seminar is to analyze the new balance of forces in Europe and draw conclusions for the Party of the European Left concerning particular countries and regions (characterized by common tendencies). We wish to be honest with ourselves and present the strengths and the weaknesses of the European left parties, discuss their strategic options for future struggles and trace the possibility of an actual European political strategy.

Key questions

· How has the balance of forces in Europe, and in particular in the European Union, changed since 2014? How should we evaluate the results of the left-wing parties within the whole political framework?

· Which political divisions and questions shaped the electoral campaign?

· How could we consider the results for the other party families? Specifically, which are our conclusions for the performance of the Right and the Far Right?

· Where were the left parties successful and what were the concrete reasons for that success? Which new forms of struggles, electoral alliances and/or socio-political alliances have proven fruitful?

· Given the fact that the differences and divisions as well do exist inside the European left, which commonalities can be found? Are there possibilities for cooperation and alliances?

· Which options do exist for the organization and implementation of left-wing policies in the European level considering the results of the EU elections?

In a first level: The new political conditions in the aftermath of the European elections will be discussed.  Which is the new balance of political forces that is being shaped?  Which political divisions and conflicts became visible? What are the consequences for the radical left?

In a second level: The concrete options and challenges of the left, as well as the results of the left-wing parties in the EU elections will be presented and discussed. The focus will be in particular country cases and regions.

In a third level: Ways for a new Europeanization of the struggles will be debated. Which election campaigns were successful and why? Under which conditions is the radical left successful?

· What is the strategic answer of the radical Left vis-à-vis the new configuration of the power in Europe?

· In comparison with 2014, what victories do we find for the Left and why? Which could we describe as our comparative advantages against the social democrats, the green and the conservatives?

· What do the results produce for the composition and the very entity of the Party of the European Left?