Just as I set foot back on the island, I do my best to switch back as quickly as possible to the local dimension. The majority refer to my travelling back and forth as fun, but I can assure you that doing it every week or so for five years does tend to taper the fun factor. I got accustomed to switching from the corridors of the European parliament to my office in Valletta as though they were one. I enjoy coming back especially for the love of my country, and I am now back for the summer recess, which also gives me more time to meet my constituents.

A survey was recently published which concerned the voting trends for the last European parliament elections. This survey was carried out one week after the European elections of June 2009, and this helped to clarify the reasons for voting or abstaining in these elections.

As is custom with these types of surveys, it should be compared to the background of the international situation at the time: the events in Iran following the presidential election, and particularly the continuing economic and financial crisis.

Now I don’t really wish to bore you with numbers, but I must mention the most crucial ones. The turnout was 43%. However, this EU 27 average must be considered on the basis of individual country results, which show a very sharp downfall in the final eleven countries, a significant increase in turnout in eight countries and a very little change in eight others.

67% of Europeans remembered seeing a broadcast or printed media campaign before the elections, encouraging them to vote. The important factor here is that there was a significant exposure, urging the electorate to vote for someone who was to represent them, whether they vote or not.

On the other hand, one third of the voters who said they voted in the national elections also stated that they did not vote in the European elections. This may be interpreted as a sign that European elections are still considered as being ‘second-order elections’, not really as important as the general elections. It seems the point that European parliament elections are just as important still needs to be driven home. The reality is that the vast majority of our laws are tabled by the EU – that’s how much it affects us.

The decision to vote was primarily motivated by factors such as civic duty rather than the European dimension of the event

Out of all the motives expressed by the 43% of the voters, civic duty was essentially the first motive to vote compared to political nature. The vote was therefore civic in tone, rather than being a protest against, or a demonstration of support for, Europe.

There is a notion that a number of voters stamp their feet in protest, refusing to vote. Unfortunately, there were those who stamped their feet and protested in the European parliament elections five years ago, and this was also what occurred two months ago. As a direct consequence, Simon and I got elected , but with three elected from the Labour party

Now I will not be the one to judge my Labour party colleagues in the European parliament, I will leave that to the electorate. I can, however, judge other Nationalist candidates They could have given a significant contribution, but the foot stamping exercise produced an eventuality which I believe, ultimately, was a loss, for you, me and our country. However the choice has been made, and after this exercise, made even clearer by the survey, the message must be interpreted, and most importantly, acted on.

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