Forum: European Parliament Elections in Times of Crisis

In May 2014, EU citizens will vote in the most important European Parliament elections to date. With the new powers allocated to it by the Lisbon Treaty, the new European Parliament will shape EU policies in many important areas and will elect the President of the Commission. However, public confidence in the EU has fallen to historically low levels - to a great extent due to the financial crisis and its aftermath - and the participation rate in European Parliament elections has dropped steadily since the first call for a direct vote in 1979. This raises fundamental questions about its political and democratic legitimacy.

This Forum examines the economic agendas of the main political parties vying for power and the potential outcome of the May elections, including the role that radical and anti-euro parties are likely to play in the campaign and in the next Parliament.

The individual articles are as follows:

+ Francis Jacobs: European Parliament Elections 2014

+ Yves Bertoncini and Valentin Kreilinger: The Balance of
Power in the Next European Parliament

+ Stijn van Kessel and Andrea L.P. Pirro: Discontent on the
Move: Prospects for Populist Radical Right Parties in the
2014 European Parliament Elections

+ Simon Otjes: How the Economic Crisis Changed the Lines of
Political Conflict in the EU

+ Sonia Piedrafita and Vilde Renman: Euroscepticism in the
Next European Parliament: A Reason to Worry?

• Primary Source

Intereconomics: Archive http://archive.intereconomics.eu/years/

ESO: Background information: European Parliament: Election, May 2014 http://www.europeansources.info/record/european-parliament-election-may-2014/

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