So the idea of the union itself is a point of opposition for the right? They're in favor of a more nationalist approach? I understand that your Right, as you were pointing out earlier, is a lot further left than ours, but that seems quite in sync with the Right here and their UN-adverse desire for a simpler, smaller world, as well as the populism.
We're talking about two different rights here -- the Center-Right and the Populist Right. The Center-Right is about where the US Democratic Party is -- relatively socially liberal, relatively internationalist and multilateralist, relatively pro-EU, relatively market-friendly, while simultaneously committed to maintaining the redistributive welfare states we have in place.
The Populist Right is about what the Republican Party would be, should the last remaining moderates (Colin Powell, Olympia Snowe, and Meghan McCain?) abandon ship. I.e., a mishmash of nationalists (from vanilla patriots to jingoists and downright racists), social conservatives, libertarians, and protectionists. The one thing that unifies is that they're staunchly anti-EU; the reasons for the position vary.
I'm glad you think it's more of a reaction to the world-wide disillusionment and anger at the failures of the financial system than a generational shift. I'd hate to see Europe cease to be a beacon of lefty enlightenment.
It could happen eventually, but it's not happening now. The center-right is in power largely because it's appropriated the traditional agenda of the center-left: they've promised that they've found a formula that allows us to combine economic freedom and the welfare state. (They're succeeding surprisingly well, too.)
However, I think the losses of the center-left *are* at least partly due to a generational shift. The Social Democratic parties are, by and large, dominated by unionists, who are in their fifties and sixties, and more concerned about maintaining the perks enjoyed by union members than, for example, seriously addressing concerns of the "precariat," globalization, or European integration. They're bleeding away support simply because the old ones are dying off while they're simultaneously preventing them from articulating policies that would attract new blood.
I'm a fairly typical example of this myself. Idelogically, I'm closest to the SDP, but I haven't actually *voted* for them in better part of a decade, for this precise reason -- instead, I've been voting Green; the only major disagreement I have with their platform is about their irrational rejection of nuclear power, and that's something I can live with. And I think I'm fairly typical in this sense.
So any change in the numbers of these groups, or just more fervor from people who normally don't bother to get involved--or less fervor from people who are usually more involved?
Mostly, yes.
That's interesting--so it's more a case of the general leanings of large groups then in the EU elections, and specific important issues are more apt to be decided in national elections?
Actually and ironically, most serious issues are decided at the EU level nowadays. However, national elections do impact that level too; when France transitioned from left to right, a quite a lot happened in Brussels.
