| Author (Corporate) | Cardiff EDC (Compiler) |
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| Publication Date | May 2019 |
| Content Type | Overview |
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Summary: Reports, analyses and information on the electoral campaign and the aftermath of the European Parliament election held in Germany on 26 May 2019. Further information: Germany is the most populous nation in the European Union and sends most of the Members of the European Parliament (96 in the 2019 election of the total expected of 705). In recent years, the German public tended to show little interest in European elections, even though 81% of Germans considered the European project as a positive thing. The major political parties, besides the right-wing party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), emphasised the importance of the European Union during their electoral campaign. One of the voters major concerns was climate change, especially among younger ones who have been actively campaigning for actions by politicians on the issue, which might benefit the Green Party. Migration was another topic which divided public opinion since the European parliament election in 2014. Pre-electoral polls suggested, that the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), together with their Bavarian sister-party (CSU), could win around 30% of the vote, while their coalition partner in the national parliament, the Social Democratic party (SPD), could come third behind the Greens. The AfD was predicted to win around 10% of the votes. After national support for the SPD slumped to 15,5%, down from 27,3% in 2014, in the European Parliament election, and its defeat in a regional election, the head of the party, Andrea Nahles, resigned in early June. She was also criticised to stay in coalition with Angela Merkel's CDU by the parties left. The SPD came third after the Greens, which doubled their share of votes (20,5%). The strongest force was the CDU with 28,9% of the votes, down from 7 points in the 2014 European Parliament election. The AfD gained 11% of the vote. |
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| Subject Categories | Politics and International Relations |
| Subject Tags | European Parliament Elections |
| Keywords | 2019 EP election |
| Countries / Regions | Germany |
| International Organisations | European Union [EU] |
