Germany’s ‘joke’ party wants seat at EU table
Nate Berg, Politco, 08.05.2019
Quotes
It's just after noon on a bright weekday in Berlin and Martin Son- neborn is a little hungover. "We've just held big campaign events here in Berlin," he says between sips of orange juice and cappuccino.
Sonneborn, a German member of the European Parliament who is hoping to be elected for a second term, is not exactly your typical candidate. He doesn't so much want to reform the European Union, or join in the high-minded debates about bloc's future, as much as he wants to point out the absurdities of the political system that underpins it. [...]
The ability of micro-parties like Die PARTEI "to influence policy- making is almost non-existent," says Janis Emmanouilidis, director of Studies at the European Policy Centre, an independent think tank focused on EU affairs. "They have been able to attract some attention from some media, but at the end of the day this has not led to any kind of wider discussion about certain aspects of European policymaking or the future of Europe," he says. [...]
Link to article here
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