Four weeks until the European elections – the hot phase is slowly starting. At the end of April, top representatives of the major parties met in Maastricht for the roundtable discussion. Among those present were the German Christian Democrat Ursula von der Leyen, the Luxembourgish Social Democrat Nicolas Schmit, the German Liberal Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, the Dutch Green Bas Eickhout, the Austrian Leftist Walter Baier, as well as Maylis Roßberg from the South Schleswig Voter Association for the Regional Parties Association, and the Danish Far-Right Anders Vistisen.

Much of the evening went as expected. For example, the right-wing populist Vistisen ranted vigorously against the EU Commission („The first person I would fire in Brussels would be you, Mrs. von der Leyen!“). But there was also a real surprise: all speakers adhered to the allotted speaking time. Wow! The same politicians who regularly ignore all red warning lights and time limit reminders from session chairs in plenary debates and chatter away as if they had drunk gabble water.

Incidentally, surprises also await German voters on the ballot paper for the European elections. The Federal Returning Officer has allowed 35 parties and alliances. Not all of them are familiar to everyone. However, with some, you can guess what they stand for, such as the Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany or the list „Shake up Parliament – Voice of the Last Generation“. A bit more difficult to interpret is the European political program of the „Party for Change, Vegans, and Vegetarians“ or the „Party for Biomedical Rejuvenation Research“. And political offers like the „Party of Progress“ or the „Party of Reason“ are really hard to classify, not to mention the alliance „Humane World.“

The bad news is: Unfortunately, unlike in domestic elections, the colour markings do not help to guess the political profiles (socialist, liberal, conservative). Because Europe's colour spectrum differs from that of the Federal Republic. For example, in EU forecast charts, the Christian democratic EPP is often not black but blue, and right-wing extremist parties are often black instead of brown. And as if that wasn't confusing enough, party families are often surprisingly composed. For example, France's far-right led by Eric Zemmour, who publicly rambles on about a supposed colonization of Europe by migrants, does not belong to the far-right block of AfD and Vrijheidspartij, but to the right-wing conservative ECR faction. Meanwhile, Hungarian Fidesz is without a faction. And beware: The „SPD“ in the European Parliament has nothing to do with the political descendants of Willy Brandt. Rather, it is „Svoboda a přímá demokracie“ – a Czech far-right, Islamophobic, and Eurosceptic party. Hence: Keep your eyes open at the European election!