The EU has domesticated the far-right
A more accurate narrative on the rise of far-right parties
With the European Parliament elections taking place this week, there has been much talk about the rising support for the far-right and, in connection with this, the idea of a far-right takeover of the EU. Doubtless, when the elections are over, there will be even more of this sort of discussion.
Yet the narrative of the EU being transformed into a far-right bastion is deeply flawed. For one thing, it substantially overstates the actual electoral success the far-right is likely to enjoy. The most recent projections see the two main far-right groups, the ECR and ID, winning 75 and 69 seats respectively. That would give them 144 seats out of a total of 720, or 20% of the overall Parliament. Even generously assigning them seats from new, currently unaffiliated parties would only bring the score up to around 25%. It represents a significant but hardly dominant presence.
By comparison, the United States, where the Republican Party is entirely in thrall to far-right Trumpist politicians, officials and voters, is a much more concerning case. Even in the best-case scenario, the far-right will control around 50% of the US Congress. It remains entirely realistic that they will hold a majority in at least one of either the House or the Senate, and potentially the presidency too. The EU is nowhere near this level of insurgency.
Beyond the simple numbers, there is a more profound conceptual flaw in how some commentators are looking at the rise of the far-right in the EU. The typical framing gives all the power to the far-right as they supposedly transform and revolutionise everything they touch. In truth, rather than the far-right imposing itself, it is more the case that the far-right is being imposed upon. In this sense the far-right has been ‘domesticated’.
In practical terms, this domestication shows itself through the clear set of principles that a growing number of far-right parties in the EU now sign up to. From Spain to Estonia, from Italy to Sweden, the biggest far-right parties align themselves according to four ideas: staying in the EU/euro, staying in NATO, supporting Ukraine and adherence to the rule of law.
Granted, some parties only follow these principles superficially and could hardly be trusted to stay the course if they were given free rein. But the point is precisely that they are not given free rein. These four principles have been set up as the minimal criteria for entry into polite society and, however much they might rant and rail against ‘the establishment’, polite society is where these parties wish to be for that is where the power is held and where the decisions are made.
This is a bargain many far-right parties have been willing to sign up to. Indeed, that is the story of almost all far-right parties that have achieved success in the EU in recent years. The point is starkly underlined by the obvious exceptions: Fidesz in Hungary and the AfD in Germany. As both have become more extreme and violated the four principles more regularly, they have become more isolated from others. Not only from the normal parties of polite society but also from other far-right parties. Going into the European Parliament elections, neither belongs to a political group anymore, having been kicked out of their old ones and thus far failed to find a new home. Fidesz may yet rehabilitate itself thanks to the important role played by Viktor Orbán personally in the far-right, but should he ever lose power the party could quickly find itself shunned once again unless it realigns with the four principles. In other words, this is not simply for show. Failure to stick by the minimum standards of mainstream politics carries consequences.
So when we say that the far-right in the EU is growing, this is true but also not the whole picture. It is not simply any far-right. It is not Nazis branding torches marching in the street (again, more than can be said for the United States). The EU’s successful far-right parties have been disciplined, moulded into a more acceptable form before they are able to advance and engage in matters of real policy. It is therefore less that the EU has become more far-right and more that the far-right has become more EU-compatible.
Now, none of this is to say that the rise of the far-right is unimportant or irrelevant. Domestication is a sword that cuts both ways. The tiger of populism may be sufficiently trained to let inside your house, yet it still has claws to tear and teeth to bite. It is a feasible but still undesirable house companion.
So for all that there may not be a systemic radicalisation of the EU as a whole - no such thing as a ‘far-right EU’ - that does not mean a greater far-right presence has no toxic impact on EU politics.
Whether on climate change, immigration or LGBT rights (what might be termed ‘culture wars’ issues), the far-right is increasingly influencing the tone and direction of policy. No sooner has the EU wrapped up passing a substantial amount of legislation to set the bloc on the path to net zero than far-right politicians may succeed in watering down and partially reversing some of those new laws.
That immigration must be cut and that asylum seekers are a threat to be kept out has become a depressingly common refrain from politicians across the political spectrum and across the Western world.
Meanwhile, although LGBT rights is not an area the EU has much control over, these protections are under threat in those individual EU states where the far-right has clawed its way into national governments (such as in Hungary or Italy).
This is the trade-off to domestication. Any far-right party can enter the mainstream by sticking to a specific consensus around the four principles but at the same time they are implicitly given permission to retain and push their radical views in other policy areas, all while receiving an even bigger platform from which to broadcast those views.
The rise of the far-right is a concern but a problem cannot be addressed if it is not even correctly identified. Progressives who want to beat the far-right and ensure that we see no more governments or leaders working with far-right parties need to understand how the far-right has made itself acceptable to the mainstream. The far-right is not overturning the system, it is becoming a part of the system.