Time for Europe

In spite of all its recent economic and political problems, Britain is still well ahead of Germany and most of the rest of the EU in one respect.

OK, when I say "well ahead", what I mean is three days ahead. Britain, you see, voted yesterday in the elections to the European Parliament. Germany, like most countries, doesn't vote until Sunday.

The results of these elections in Britain won't officially be published until polls close in the other countries on Sunday. But one thing is pretty clear: the outcome is going to be disastrous for the ruling Labour Party and Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Labour is in danger of finishing below the anti-EU United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) in the European elections. And the party is in danger of coming behind the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats in the local elections that were also held yesterday.

What this means for Gordon Brown is clear: the man is finished politically. He will be kicked out by his own party if he doesn't fall on his sword soon. Labour desperately needs a new leader if it is to have any chance of avoiding a wipeout at the next general election, due by May 2010 at the latest.

But back to Europe's elections. I am looking forward to Sunday because it gives me the chance to do something unusual: vote. As a non-German in Germany, I can't vote in federal or state elections. And as a Brit who has lived outside his country for more than 15 years, I can't vote there at all.

This leaves me with just two voting possibilities: local elections in Germany and those for the European Parliament. And since I have so few opportunities to vote, I appreciate those I have all the more. So unlike most of the 375 million eligible voters in the EU, I shall be voting with pride on Sunday.

The EU was the greatest political achievement of the second half of the 20th century. War between member countries has been banished. Travel and trade freedoms have led to dramatic increases in living standards and promoted intercultural exchange.

More needs to be done, particularly as regards integrating potential new member countries, such as Croatia, Serbia and Turkey. But it is too easy to forget the big picture and the big achievements and to get bogged down in the details of EU bureaucracy and constitutional wrangling.

Europe's politicians are also to blame for not making the EU more relevant to citizens — for example, through a direct election of a EU President.

But, come Sunday, these quibbles should be forgotten. Those of us who are lucky enough to be able to vote should do so.