Interview: European Parliament needs 'ideological coalition'[fr][de] 

Watson believes that an ideological coalition between the Liberals and one of the two major political groups, the centre-right EPP-ED or the centre-left Party of European Socialists (PES), would work better than the current system of technical agreements between the two biggest groups, which has so far only managed to reach consensus on sharing top jobs. 

Currently, neither the EPP-ED nor the PES has a majority, holding 284 and 215 respectively from a total of 785. The ALDE group has 103 MEPs whom, according to Watson, have been voting with the left on environment issues and foreign policy and the right on the economy and constitutional development of the Union. 

Watson stops short of indicating his preference for joining either group, but clearly indicates that the centre-right is better placed to win the European elections. 

"I believe we could drive Europe forward much more effectively and much more efficiently if we had an ideological majority parliament that reflected the ideological majority in the Council of Ministers, where the Socialists currently have fewer governments than the Liberals," says Watson. 

The ALDE leader says turnout at the European elections depends on the effectiveness of EU action and the Union's ability to show that "Europe works" in the decisive months ahead of the June 2009 European elections. In his own campaign in Scotland, Watson says he will not even mention the Lisbon Treaty, but rather point out to people how action at European level is making their lives better. The fact that the EU was able to take the lead in both the Georgia crisis and the international response to the financial turmoil is also an important message for the European elections, he believes. 

While expressing his great satisfaction over the election of Barack Obama as US President, Watson warns against over-expectation, especially in attempts to reform the the global financial system. He said the first steps would probably be modest and centre on reaching consensus over policies to reform regulation of the financial services industry. "Currently, our approaches are very, very different," the ALDE chief said.

To read the interview in full, please click here.