Cohn-Bendit's Europe Ecologie victory in France emboldens the Green
right across Europe but does it also mean the death of traditional
green principles?
The success of Europe Ecologie in France and moderate advances
elsewhere in the June European elections have emboldened the green
right but disaster in Ireland, where the party was wiped out - and to
a lesser extent in the Czech Republic - shows what happens when they
abandon their principles for a shot at the big league.
Since the France's Europe Ecologie triumph in the European elections,
the European media have been talking of a Green wave across the
continent, with leading member Daniel Cohn-Bendit's gurning visage
nigh on inescapable.
But the effervescent Cohn-Bendit has every right to be in an
especially jolly mood - the result was indeed truly spectacular. It
saw them soaring from the 7.45 per cent of the French vote in the
2004 EU elections and their embarrassing 1.57 per cent in the 2007
presidential elections.
Cohn-Bendit christened the night 'the D-Day of ecological politics',
leftwing daily Liberation called the result an 'earthquake' and
saluted the victory of Cohn-Bendit's green dream team alliance -
bringing together the former soixante-huitard with, among others,
alter-globalisation's most famous farmer, Jose Bove. As well as
crusading anti-corruption judge Eva Joly and the ex-chief of
Greenpeace France, Yannick Jadot. Meanwhile, the Socialists abjectly
conceded that the Greens had tapped into something profound among
French voters that their own party had entirely missed.
<http://www.redpepper.org.uk/The-rise-of-European-Bobo-politics>Link
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Posted By johannes to
<http://www.monochrom.at/english/2009/09/rise-of-european-bobo-politics.htm>monochrom
at 9/02/2009 11:50:00 AM
