Nice Premium: With the European election two days away, what does your list propose for this election?
Patrick Louis: We want to restore real democratic control in Europe, which is currently lacking since the Commission has the monopoly on political and legislative action. And for the most important decisions, the referendum is no longer the rule, it tends to become the exception.
Michèle Vianès: First of all, a new institutional architecture. That is, abolishing the Commission, establishing the primacy of Nation-States agreeing on specific projects, and ending the harmful logic of the European Central Bank. We also advocate for reasoned protectionism. It’s time for Europe to defend the interests of Europeans, reduce the extravagant trade deficit with China, and encourage it to develop its domestic market. Services must also be strengthened, the management of the euro reconsidered, and finally, we propose to bet on intelligence. We have major industrial and infrastructure projects like energy independence.
N-P: What kind of Europe do you aspire to?
M-V: Europe should serve to do better and more strongly what no single nation can do on its own. The Europe of nations should organize cooperation on a project-by-project basis. Rather than frustrating nations and peoples, let them live each in their own way and prioritize a Europe that meets the challenges of globalization. The challenge of the 21st century is scientific, industrial, environmental. Europe is perceived as a bureaucratic machine intended to poison the daily life of the French, to break public services, but incapable of providing answers to the essentials.
P-L: Together with Philippe de Villiers, we believe it is urgent to introduce two fundamental values into European institutions: pragmatism and democracy. Pragmatism, because this Europe, which claims the right to handle everything, creates problems instead of solving them, because it cannot overlook our differences. Ultimately, Europe loses itself in exercising in Brussels competences that would be more coherent at the national level. Europe then becomes powerless.
N-P: European elections often suffer from a high rate of abstention; how do you explain this?
P-L: As I said, there is a democratic deficit in Europe because decisions are made far away, in isolation, and people do not really know how to have their say on it. Since the Treaty of Lisbon, there has been a crisis of trust, since the voice of the people is bypassed. Depending on the outcome of a referendum, it is either considered a “victory for democracy” or a people “who did not understand the question,” and they must be made to vote again until a yes is obtained. This is a denial of democracy.
M-V: There are two main reasons. The schizophrenic discourse of the UMP-PS-Modem-Greens cartel, who vote together in Brussels, against our interests and say in France it is “Brussels’ fault”. The second reason is the betrayal of the UMP, PS, Modem, and Green parliamentarians. They voted for the Treaty of Lisbon, a copy/paste of the Constitutional Treaty rejected by the French people, during the referendum. Fearing popular expression, the media-political power asserts that European elections do not interest our compatriots. They will thus justify the record abstention they hope for. They do not dare to remove the voting rights of the French, but hope to convince many people that it is useless to go to vote.
N-P: What do you plan to do to give citizens a better vision of Europe?
M-V: The answer is simple: exclude the cartel lobbied by the globalized elite. There is no Europe close to the citizens if Nation States are diminished. Each has its history. Ours is that of the social, secular, patriotic Republic. We need a public life that regains dignity and truth. It’s time to rediscover the voice of Valmy, of the Resistance, of the great republicans, of De Gaulle, and of those about whom Mendès France said “truth guided their steps”.
P-L: Europe needs to be more transparent, first and foremost. It must especially get out of the ideological traps it has fallen into: globalism, immigration, and libertarianism. These ideological vectors have perverted the European idea, which was to think together what we could not do alone or what we did better together. Instead, politicians use the European Union to impose dangerous reforms from above that people do not want.
N-P: Finally, what are your thoughts on the Treaty of Lisbon?
P-L: It is essential to continue to firmly oppose the Treaty of Lisbon, as it is the continuation of this Europe said to be “of the Brussels commissioners”. Those who claim they want to change Europe by adopting the Treaty of Lisbon are deceiving us: it is a treaty that enshrines unlimited free competition and completes the transfer of competencies in favor of the Commission. To get out of the crisis, we must completely rethink the functioning of Europe and tackle the causes, including reinstating compensatory rights to protect our businesses and give States more breathing room. But if the Treaty of Lisbon goes into effect, this will no longer be possible.
