Moderation makes headway at European Parliament

Despite the partisan lines that governed the members of the European Parliament, moderation prevailed across the board as the body addressed immigration reform and dynamic border policies in the European Union. The convened members of the Parliament belonged to parties with varying degrees of partisanship, evident as representatives assembled into their own respective parties upon receiving time to draft reform policies. However, each party’s proposed ideas did not reflect such extreme distinctions.

A self-proclaimed “center-left” group gathered around Guy Verhofstadt, a Belgian politician and member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, with the intention of resolving issues faced by North African refugees while migrating across the Mediterranean Sea.

“We’re working to mitigate refugee fatality and ease their path into the EU, but we also support strengthening Schengen outer borders,” Verhofstadt said. “Our policies may primarily be center-left, but balance is key for this body to be effective.”

Brian Crowley, representative for Southern Ireland and prominent member of the European Conservatives and Reformist Group, led a different assembly of more conservative Parliament members. However, the group followed a similar philosophy regarding moderation to that of Verhofstadt and his party.

“European stability is being threatened by uncontrolled migration and a system that is just failing,” Crowley said. “But, even with that in mind, we’re including a moderated refugee assimilation compromise in our potential reform ideas.”

He furthered that despite opinions ranging from far left to far right across the political spectrum, resolutions from all political ideologies possessed similar solutions which reflected the Parliament’s willingness to accomplish adequate immigration reform.

“Diplomacy and good business making require moderation and sacrifices on both sides,” Crowley said. As such, many members of the Parliament remain hopeful of the group’s ability to reconcile its immigration reform ideas with one another and move to address the next topic of ensuring the preservation and continued existence of the European Union.