European citizens went to the polls this month in order to elect a new European Parliament. Under the Lisbon Treaty the number of seats has been reduced to 751; and heads of state and government are compelled to take into account the result when choosing the next President of the EU Commission. This year’s elections saw key gains for parties opposed to the EU project, particularly in France and the UK. Despite the buzz, the 2014 European Parliament Elections might turn out to be not as ‘historic’ as some people had predicted.
Janis A. Emmanouilidis, Corina Stratulat and Fabian Zuleeg explain in this report what this could all mean for Europe, at this stage. EPC Senior Policy Analyst, Corina Stratulat believes that despite the hyperbole surrounding these elections, they were less historic and more ‘business as usual’. Before the elections there had been various ‘sensationalist’ claims: that the European Parliament was on the brink of an invasion by Eurosceptics; that these groups would stop the Parliament from functioning; and that the now familiar ‘voter fatigue’ was at an end.
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