Europeans have signaled a desire for a more right-wing direction for the union in the latest EP elections. However, this trend is not reflected in Denmark, where the Socialist People’s Party (SF) became the largest party with 17.4% of the votes. Overall, the red bloc is also best represented in the European Parliament with seven out of 15 Danish seats, while the picture looks different in the rest of Europe.
“The big headline is that the EU has taken a turn to the right. The European People’s Party (EPP) will become the overwhelmingly largest group in the parliament,” says Derek Beach, EU researcher at Aarhus University. According to Beach, the reason for Denmark’s deviation from the European trend may be that Danes are not as dissatisfied with the political situation as their Southern European neighbors.
An example of this is seen in France, where the election was used as a protest. “There is a lot of evidence that the French have used the EP election as a protest vote. An indicator is the low voter turnout of around 50%,” explains Beach. French President Emmanuel Macron’s party received only 15% of the votes, leading the president to call for elections the same evening.
However, Beach does not believe that SF’s victory in Denmark can be interpreted as a protest against the government, but rather as support for SF’s policies. “It is a signal that a significant number of Danes want a more ambitious climate policy. They will probably be disappointed with the new parliament,” he says. With a more right-wing European Parliament, Derek Beach expects EU’s climate policy to be less ambitious in the coming five years than it has been so far.