Local and European elections normally draw very little comment. Local councils have limited powers and the European parliament is a particularly powerless talking shop.

Yet the 2014 elections are significant. They represented a widespread rejection of the European project and of the establishment parties on which that project rests.

The rejection of Europe is seen as a result of the grinding austerity following the bank bailout, yet the crisis is far deeper than that. The European Union, since its inception, has been a weapon to transfer wealth from the workers to the capitalists. This endless exploitation was bound to provoke a  response.

The movement against the European project  involves shifts to the right and left, but they are not equal shifts. The right wing movements are organized on the streets and enjoy levels of complicity with the state. The majority of the left forces concentrate on electoral activity and propose a change of direction by the capitalist state to sponsor a fairer society.

That call for mercy does not correspond with reality. Austerity and privatisation became legal  imperatives when the Financial Stability Pact was enshrined in legislation. Parliaments became passé when Troika dictatorships were installed in debtor countries.

The direction of travel of European capital is illustrated by events in the Ukraine. Military  bombardment and Fascist groups facilitate the signing of an austerity programme that will be  implemented by the Troika.

The rulers of Europe understand clearly that there is no democratic way of enforcing their attacks on the workers. They are organising to step over   democratic constraints. The task of the socialists is to sound the alarm and alert the workers to face the coming conflict.