European Integration of the Western Balkans Making a Realistic Perspective out of a Shifting Target
Publisher: Western Balkans Fund
Volume: 58 pages, pdf
Description:
The European parliamentary elections held in May 2019 brought several results that have changed the scenery of EU politics, established for several decades now. The rise of the anti-EU and right wing parties and movements, and rise of populists across Europe had a steady trend for many years. The decline of well-established old parties anchored in central-left (gathered in Party of European Socialists – PES) and central-right (gathered in European Peoples Party - EPP) of the political spectrum was evident. Decline was particularly evident for PES. These two party groups were the anchor of European Parliament since 1979. Before the elections populist and far right parties predicted they will gain approximately 30% of the EP seats and will be a huge blocking minority threatening to rearrange EU according to their views from within or even taking over the European Parliament. The European Parliament has always been one of the engines of EU integration of the continent and major supporter of enlargement.
Elections have brought important changes in the established order in the EP but not in the directions of these predicaments. First, the EP elections were for a long time perceived as being of secondary importance for state parties, and as midterm elections to determine ratings of parties on the home front. This was the first time that turnout on EP elections has risen to 51%, an increase of 9 p.p. compared to 2014 elections. In certain countries like Germany and Spain it went above 60%. This shows that EP elections became important on their own.