Europe “is the best idea we ever had”. This is the title ofappeal signed by the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, and by 20 other heads of state to invite European citizens to vote in the European elections to be held from 23 to 26 May in all the Member States of the European Union
“The 2019 elections are of special importance: it is you, European citizens, who choose which direction the EU will take. We, the Heads of State of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland, we appeal to citizens who have the right to do so to participate” in the vote.
The text lacks the signatures of the heads of state of the United Kingdom - which two days ago officially announced its participation in the elections - Spain, Denmark, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium and Sweden.
“European integration – write the colleagues who have decided to participate in the initiative – has helped to achieve the age-old hope of peace in Europe after unbridled nationalism and other extremist ideologies had brought Europe to the barbarism of two world wars”. “It is necessary that all of us actively commit ourselves to the great idea of a peaceful and integrated Europe”.
"We want a strong and integrated Europe – they continue – So we need a strong European Union, equipped with common institutions, which constantly reviews its work with a critical eye and is capable of reforming itself”. The appeal states that "this Europe needs a lively political debate on which is the best direction for the future, starting from the basis provided by the Rome Declaration of 25 March 2017".
The appeal has a clear purpose: to counteract abstention, which has always been rampant on the occasion of the European vote, often considered and conveyed (culpably) as a "secondary series vote" compared to the national one. The data proves it. In 2014, the year of the last continental elections, voter turnout was nowhere near 50%. Averaged across the 28 Member States, five years ago only 43,09% of citizens voted. Same percentage also in 2009 (43%).
Traditionally, the European elections are won by the so-called "non-vote party", settling in 2014 at 57,9%.
Italy, at this juncture, represents a “virtuous” example“. In 2014, together with Sweden, Ireland, Denmark, Greece, Belgium, Luxembourg and Malta, it was among the few countries to record a turnout of more than 50%, settling at 57,22%.
Also forecasts for this year's elections are not encouraging. According to a survey conducted by the Demopolis Institute for Tg3, in Italy there are 18 million people who will not go to the polls, a number that risks rising if we consider that another 5 million citizens regard their participation in the vote as uncertain. In the end, based on Demopolis estimates, about 20 million Italians could decide not to vote.
