Euro19

Slovenia is one of the European countries in which the political landscape has changed significantly, after the crisis of capitalism in 2008, although with a slight delay. Some “traditional” political parties, which ruled in the past, simply vanished. Thus, as in other parts of Europe, also in Slovenia there are a lot of “unknowns”. So far these turbulences did not reflect that much on the elections to the European parliament (EP), as they did on the elections for the Slovenian National Assembly. On all (3) European elections ...
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Saturday March 2, 2019, two hundred thousand people hit the streets of Milan, demonstrating against racism. This was the first mass rally that took place in Italy against the populist government composed by the Northern League and the Five Star Movement, exactly one year after the political elections. More than 1.200 associations from the civil society adhered to the march and gathered under the general motto "People first", a motto clearly in opposition with the one of the government, "Italians first". The center-left wing Democratic Party (PD) did not play any role in ...
read more "Country report: Italy"

Torn between a „Europe that protects“, a „Europe of nations“ and a „People’s Europe“French citizens are being called on to elect the 79 representatives who will represent them in the European Parliament on 26 May 2019. This election will be critical not only with regards to the recalibration of political forces in the European assembly and the subsequent political project to be carried out by the future President of the European Commission. It will also reconfigure the national political forces in the context of a deep social crisis and ...
read more "France in the run-up to the European Parliament Election"

Increased Polarisation and Fragmentation in the Shadow of National Electoral Politics2019 marks the beginning of a new electoral cycle: general elections, regional elections, local elections and European Parliament electionsThe European Parliament elections will take place just one month after crucial general electionsLeft-wing parties are entering the electoral cycle in very different positions: PSOE recovered, the radical left greatly weakened The political and electoral context ahead of the 2019 European Parliament (EP) elections in Spain could ...
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European elections have always been treated as the poor relation in Greece compared to general elections. Since 1981, when they took place for the very first time, they have always attracted less political interest and participation – naturally, the same goes for many other EU countries. Both those tendencies (lesser interest and a lower turnout) are expected to be reaffirmed in the coming election of 26 May 2019, although there are three factors that could moderate, but not reverse, these. The first one is that, since the outset of the crisis ...
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European Parliament elections generally attract little attention in Germany, and this is reflected in low turnouts. The turnout for the 2014 European elections was just 47.9%, although this was an improvement on 2004 and 2009, when it was around 43% a piece. This compares with 76.2% in 2017 and 71.5% in 2013 for elections to the German federal parliament (Bundestag). In the most recent state parliament (Landtag) elections in Hesse and Bavaria, the turnout was 67.3% and 72.3% respectively. Spitzenkandidaten One measure designed to counter the low ...
read more "The European Parliament Elections in Germany"

As a small and compromise-based country, Belgium has always played a central role in the history of the European Union. Never has membership been questioned, never have there been harsh criticisms on its policies. This may now be changing, as a consequence of right-wing populism and left-wing activism. It still does not mean however that European politics and European elections have any meaningful place in today’s political discourse and debates. The direct reason is very simple: on the 26th of May Belgium will also have national and ...
read more "European elections in Belgium: big shifts, small changes"