By Martin Banks - 10th June 2009
Once again, the big problem is that it is not clear to voters how their vote makes a difference
Simon Hix
A Brussels conference has heard that the media faces a challenge over what sort of coverage it gives to newly elected MEPs from the far-right.
Shirin Wheeler, Europe correspondent for the BBC, said that in the run-up to the European elections, the organisation had chosen not to invite leaders from groups such as the British National Party to participate in debates with leaders of the mainstream parties.
"The challenge," she said, "is what do we do now some of them they have been elected?
"The BBC has not decided what to do yet but, in terms of air time, you have to reflect what voters have decided.
"In a democracy, that is only fair."
In the election, anti-immigrant, extremist and previously fringe parties made significant gains in several countries, including the UK, Netherlands, Austria, Hungary, Finland, Greece and Romania.
Wheeler, an experienced Brussels journalist, was speaking at a post-election debate organised by the European Policy Centre.
The BNP had two candidates elected, including its leader Nick Griffin who is expected to be a key figure in attempts to form an alliance with similar-minded groups in the parliament.
Wheeler also said the low turnout of just over 43 per cent highlighted the need for "more personalities" like Nigel Farage, of the UK Independence Party and Daniel Cohn-Bendit, co-leader of the Greens.
"The problem is that voters simply do not understand the connection between their own lives and what goes on in parliament. This is something the media can help address but not just in the five weeks up to an election but throughout the year," she said.
Her comments were partly echoed by London School of Economics academic Simon Hix, who said, "Once again, the big problem is that it is not clear to voters how their vote makes a difference. This is partly the fault of parliament itself. Too many people think there is no incentive to go out and vote."
One possible solution, he suggested, was to introduce pan-European electoral lists in some constituencies.
Previously, Hix had incorrectly predicted that UKIP would perform badly in the election.
He had said the Eurosceptic party would win four seats when, in fact, it had 13 MEPs elected. In 2004, he said the party would win no seats when it won 12.
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