The European Parliament elections are finally over and we can go back to normality, whatever that may be, but it would be unwise to move on without a proper analysis of the results, especially since they have somewhat shattered the political scene, at least in the rest of Europe. It would be a pity to deprive ourselves from learning something out of this.

After all the hubbub and commotion, the noise and the talk – which most often are quite indistinguishable – it is time to quietly mull over the events that just passed to prepare ourselves for the future that is fast approaching. The great moment of reflection is now due.

In the great tradition of crying over spilt milk, a tradition which the world as a whole has been embracing for the last few years, especially when it comes to environmental catastrophes (the flooding in England and the nuclear disaster in Fukushima are just two of the bigger, more recent ones that come to mind) and which is particularly en vogue in our very own country, I’m going to give a good and thorough post-mortem. I’m thinking of the elections as a European event – as they are, after all. Nevertheless, it is an important caveat, considering the way the subject was treated.

European issues were conspicuously absent from the debates between the larger parties. These failed to make it a European election and introduce regional issues to the public, opting instead to leave the electorate firmly grounded in local affairs. The attempt to move away from this kind of politics came in fact from an unexpected source.

Irrespective of what they said, of the content of their input and proposals, which was sometimes questionable, one must congratulate the smaller parties for being the only ones who kept the campaign centred almost solely on European issues. It was the smaller parties who educated the public about the structure of the European Parliament and who focused on the workings, achievements and shortcomings of the European Union, while the bigger ones participated in the mudfest we’ve all come to love (or hate, depending on intellectual acumen). This is highly commendable. Their attitude is one we hope to see more in the future, and one I hope the bigger parties will humbly learn from it.

In any case, the outcome of the European elections has sent a clear message to the traditional and incumbent centre-left and centre-right strongholds through the parties which, on a Union level, emerged winners: far-right and far-left and other extremist parties, nationalist parties and, something they all tend to be, eurosceptics. Over here too, despite not winning any seat, these parties won a small victory as they managed to secure more votes than expected.

This could – and should – be interpreted as an attempt by the European public to send a message to their leaders. It’s a way for the European electorate to show their discontent: proof that they have lost faith in the institutions or simply a protest action in response to measures taken at both national and Union level, as well as a negative assessment of the solutions proposed by Brussels to what many increasingly see as national problems. Many see the European project (charade, they would say) as a huge waste of money: taxpayers’ money. Which explains the rise in popularity of eurosceptics and extremist parties, whose whole agenda is targeted at quelling – and sometimes feeding – the people’s fears. There’s a reason they are called populists.

Take for instance journalist James Delingpole, who recently, in a review for The Spectator of a documentary about Nigel Farage – Ukip’s controversial leader – described the European Parliament as “a sham parliament in which pretend MPs talk ad nauseam about issues over which they have no control because all the actual decisions are made elsewhere by the unelected bureaucrats of the European Commission”.

Many share this view. Just like Delingpole, a sizeable chunk of the Union’s populace think of the EP as an institution “built with absolutely no expense spared, housing many apparatchiks swarming like ants down labyrinthine passageways, all of it at our expense, none of it to any useful purpose whatsoever”.

The Ukip – a eurosceptic party lobbying for British “independence” and immediate withdrawal from the Union – has done handsomely, outvoting both the Conservatives and the Labour Party, despite the attempts of both to ridicule the relatively young party and the underestimation it begets. Perhaps it’s time to start taking them seriously? It has repeatedly voiced concerns which are very real and very relevant. The democratic process has always been the weak point of the institutions – which ironically are meant to be the prime symbol and promoters of Western democracy – but so far it had only generated a cool buzzword. It seems that this has changed, and the democratic deficit is now truly being felt. Low-turnouts have always been common across the Union, so faith in the institutions has always been low. But this had frequently been attributed to lack of information and apathy towards Union matters. The recent votes have revealed a more positive attitude towards this negativity, and while it is true that the triumphs had much to do with the usual low-turnout, it clearly shows that some disgruntled citizens are willing to put their vote where their mouth is.

But there is another sense in which money is behind the results. Those in power, not least the EU itself, have been hammering austerity into people’s heads, while letting them hammer away at the financial problem under the convenient idea of ‘bailout’. Many people are not willing to furnish their representative with a ticket to a higher salary. Even if we are to allow that they aren’t useless – and in this regard we must remember that the European Parliament is the most democratic of the institutions – and even if the posts commanding such high salaries are justifiable, both in need and remuneration, the common citizen will still feel somewhat cheated. And rightly so. Even if no one is to blame for the discrepancy, the average Joe is still tight on money – feeling the pinch and the euros lacking. An unbearable lightness that even the European Union admits is leaving its effect on its citizens: most of its policy has been centred around and justified and driven by the economic crisis.

The derision of anti-European parties, most notably the way parties like Ukip have been constantly derided, must make way to real adult talk about the current state of the Union. And this talk must include the eurosceptics. Otherwise the future might well see the latter conducting the debate, and deciding whether or not to include the Europhiles.