The Know Daily - Tuesday 11 June 2024

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🇪🇺 EU Elections | 🫵 Nudge theory | 🛍️ Fashion fees

Nearly 2,000 rice farmers in Vietnam have taken up more sustainable methods thanks to a “train the trainer” programme from the Vietnam Farmers’ Union. Under the guidance of ‘farmfluencers’, 90% of those taking part in the programme have reduced crop burning and over half have reduced their use of chemical fertilisers.

🇪🇺 EU elections

Mainstream centrist parties held on to their majority in the European Parliament, despite far-right parties making significant gains across the bloc.

Where did the far-right do well?
In France, Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party won 32% of the vote, more than double the share taken by President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance. As a result, Macron dissolved parliament and called a surprise snap election beginning on 30 June - a decision seen as a “huge political gamble”, said CNBC.

In Italy, PM Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy came out on top. And in Germany, the hard-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) performed better than expected, beating Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats to second place. 

Why did these parties do well?
There’s a few different things going on - but EU politics have steadily been shifting to the right for the past 15 years or so. Many observers have attributed that shift to the rising cost of living and concerns about migration, said ABC News - worries which far-right parties have “seized on”.

And according to Vox, these elections weren’t just about embracing the right, but voters “wanting to rebuke centrist and left-leaning policies they felt weren’t working for them”. 

But centrist parties still hold ground?
Yep. The centre-right European People’s Party holds a quarter of seats in the European Parliament, in part because it generally shifted to the right to cater to voters that may have otherwise voted for the far-right. The centre-left Socialists & Democrats group held on to roughly the same number of seats, but the liberal Renew group’s power has shrunk considerably. 

What does this all mean?
Despite making gains, the predicted surge in support for far-right parties was not as dramatic as some had originally projected, said Euronews. And as mainstream parties still hold 56% of seats in the European Parliament, “the pro-European coalition at the centre will hold”.