The EU occupies a more prominent role in the upcoming Italian general elections on Sunday. For the first time, some parties put their European political family affiliation, the European People’s Party (EPP) and Renew Europe, in their electoral insignias. In …
The May 7 UK general election will go a long way towards deciding whether Britain will stay in the European Union, or choose to leave, after forty years of uneasy relations.
After months of deliberation, Commission President-elect Jean-Claude Juncker presented his team, and the new executive structure, on 10 September.
In the autumn of 2014, a new team of commissioners will take charge of the EU executive. As Europe's economic storms calm down, the next Commission can set its sights on a number of long-term challenges when drafting its programme. An overview of the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
On 22-25 May, EU citizens cast their ballots to elect 751 members of the European Parliament. But MEPs will not be the only ones to perform a game of musical chairs: 2014 will also bring about change in many of the top positions in the EU.
After the financial and sovereign debt crisis, state bailouts and budget cuts, the May 2014 European elections were expected to take the pulse of public confidence towards the European Union. For the first time, voters will also indirectly choose the next president of the European Commission, giving citizens a fresh chance to shape the future of Europe.
The European Union’s economic and financial challenges left the bloc in no doubt that its most populous member state is also its most politically powerful. On 22 September 2013, Germans will decide in a federal election whether that power remains within its current ruling conservative coalition led by incumbent Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), or whether to entrust it to the Social Democrats or a new coalition. In the run up to the elections, Europe has largely remained off the agenda.
Italians head to the polls on 24-25 February to replace a technocratic government charged with halting the country’s economic and fiscal decline. But after wearying months of austerity and instability, voters appeared to have no clear favourite among familiar faces as well as wildcard candidates. EURACTIV Italia reports.
With Prime Minister David Cameron having vowed to hold a referendum on UK membership of the EU, Britain's penchant for EU bashing is well publicised. But there are political parties in other member states which are far from in love with the European project, and whose stance against integration has been fanned by the worsening of the economic crisis.
The 2009 European elections, held simultaneously in 27 countries for the first time in history, ended in a clear victory for the centre-right European People's Party (EPP) and a defeat for the Socialists.
EURACTIV provides an overview of the four main European parties' electoral manifestos, analysing their content and asking experts how they compare with previous efforts.
In the country hosting the EU institutions, European elections are held on the same day as regional elections, with local issues overshadowing the EU poll. Voting is compulsory in Belgium, and over 90% of the population usually participates in the ballot.
EU elections will take place in Romania on 7 June, but Romanian politicians and commentators admit that debates are being hijacked by disputes over the upcoming presidential poll, which is due in the autumn.
EU elections will take place in Bulgaria on 7 June, less than a month ahead of parliamentary elections on 5 July, which will renew the 240-seat parliament and possibly change the format of the governing coalition, which has been in place for the last four years.
France's political parties are preparing to launch their campaigns for the European elections in June, despite internal squabbling over the composition of electoral lists within the ruling centre-right UMP and opposition Socialist parties - EURACTIV France offers an overview.
While the European Parliament has gained extensive new powers since the first European elections were held thirty years ago, voter turnout has consistently fallen, calling into question the ability of EU politicians to reverse the trend for the 2009 elections.
Amid gloomy EU surveys on voter turnout, recent opinion polls suggest that the Czech Republic could beat the odds with as many as 50% of registered voters planning to cast their ballot, or twice as much as during the last elections in 2004. Meanwhile, the economic crisis, energy issues and the future of the EU are predominant topics in all the parties' campaigns.
The European elections in Slovakia are being overshadowed by much-discussed presidential elections, which are delaying the beginning of the EU elections campaign - EURACTIV Slovakia reports.
Conservative leader Nicolas Sarkozy won a clear victory over his Socialist opponent, Ségolène Royal, in a 6 May run-off which saw French voters turn out in exceptionally high numbers. The first round was marked by the defeat of the far-right of Jean-Marie Le Pen and the emergence of the centrist François Bayrou, whose supporters were seen as holding the key to the final round.
The inconclusive result of the elections in Germany on 18 September has for now left unclear how the country will address the key policy issues ahead.
The newly elected post-enlargement Parliament will still be dominated by the two biggest political families. Under the new Constitution, the Parliament will gain in power but will it be able to deliver?
The 2004 elections have continued the downward trend in voter participation in European elections. In the new Member States, only slightly over a quarter of the electorate took part. Regarding the balance of power in the EP, the EPP-ED group remains the largest political group in the Parliament. A new pro-European centrist group and a new anti-European group are on the cards. EURACTIV has compiled a table with lists of elected MEPs and websites where official results are posted.
The European Parliament elections were held between 10-13 June 2004. As a result of the enlargement of the European Union to 25 countries, 732 members of the European Parliament have been chosen. For an overview of the main challenges and results of the EP elections 2004 (voter turnout, "Europeanness" of the election campaign, national impacts of the elections, division of power in the EP), see our LinksDossier on the EP elections results.
