ASSESSMENTS

Europe's Center-Left Under Pressure as the Economic Crisis Drags On

Feb 13, 2014 | 11:32 GMT

Europe's Economic Crisis Creates Political Changes
Members and supporters of the CCOO Workers Union and the General Union of Workers take part in a protest organized by unions against the Spanish government's austerity policies at the Atocha Square in Madrid on Oct. 7, 2012.

DANI POZO/AFP/Getty Images

Summary

The economic crisis is reshaping Europe's political and ideological landscape. The nationalist right is becoming more populist, criticizing the European Union and the political elites that back it and rejecting immigration. Center-right parties are afraid of losing votes to their competitors on the right, so they are adopting elements from the nationalists' agenda. Center-left parties are facing an identity crisis because they traditionally have defended deeper European integration and the expansion of the welfare state. With both of these concepts in crisis, progressive parties are struggling to adapt to the new social and political environment in Europe. The far right and center-right will continue attracting voters. As a result, domestic pressures to leave the common currency and adopt new barriers to immigration and free trade are likely to grow in the coming years.

As nationalism and Euroskepticism gain strength, the center-left is struggling to adjust....

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