What Macron and Salvini get wrong about the future of Europe

French president Emmanuel Macron and Italy’s deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini don’t have much in common, but on the importance of the upcoming European elections they agree. For Macron, the vote will be “decisive for the future of our continent”. And for the leader of Italy’s right-wing populist Lega, “May 26 is a referendum between life and death. Those who are still sleeping should wake up.” Yet Macron and Salvini are wrong. Both have misinterpreted these elections and their significance for Europe’s future. And the argument that these votes are a binary and existential struggle between pro-EU forces, led by Macron, and right-wing populists, led by Marine Le Pen and Salvini, is simplistic and self-serving. Put simply, it is aimed at firing up and mobilising European voters rather than representing what is really happening. To get a more accurate picture of what these elections will mean for Europe, it is worth dividing the parties of the next European Parliament into three groups, according to their outlook for the future of the EU.