The polls are closed for the 2019 European Parliament elections! Turnout is estimated to have been the highest in 20 years, bucking the trend towards declining voter numbers in EU elections. Early results have already been released, projecting that the main centre-right and centre-left blocs in the European Parliament will lose their combined majority, while Liberals and Green parties are predicted to have done very well. Eurosceptic and nationalist parties surged in the UK, Italy, and France. However, there was no great “eurosceptic wave”, with populist parties performing mostly as expected (and in some cases doing worse).
Pundits predict the most likely outcome is the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) working in cooperation with the centre-left Socialists & Democrats, joined by the liberal ALDE group and the Greens. According to the Spitzenkandidaten (“lead candidate”) process, the EPP received the most votes and would therefore expect their candidate, Manfred Weber, to become the next President of the European Commission. However, the heads of EU Member States (and France’s Emmanuel Macron in particular) are reportedly unhappy with the Spitzenkandidaten process, and are keen to restore the power to choose the Commission’s next top boss to national heads of state and government in the European Council.
What happens next? The negotiations over forming new groups in the European Parliament have already begun (a process complicated by the fact that British MEPs may be leaving the Parliament en masse after Brexit), with talk of a new Eurosceptic grouping being created. The next several months will be taken up by the battle over the formation of a new European Commission, with the European Council proposing a candidate for European Commission President (taking into account the result of the elections) but with the European Parliament getting a final veto. If the Parliament vetoes (or threatens to veto) the Council’s choice, then we could be heading for a bust-up between the institutions. There was also disagreement over the Spitzenkandidaten process after the 2014 European elections, with the European Council ultimately giving in because the risks of leaving the post unfilled were deemed too great.
Assuming we get a president-elect of the Commission in the next month or so, the next step will be agreeing a new Commission. Each EU Member State (working with the new president-elect) gets to nominate a commissioner, and there will be a series of public hearings in the European Parliament. The Parliament cannot veto individual commissioners, though it can veto the entire Commission (and, in practice, candidates usually withdraw after an awkward hearing). In theory, we should have a new Commission in place by November.
Are you happy with the EU election results? What can we expect next after the European Parliament elections? Let us know your thoughts and comments in the form below and we’ll take them to policymakers and experts for their reactions!
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Oh yes indeed…
Yes very happy specially in France. Nations are back
Nations are obsolete.
nation’s are very modern. People need roots and common values to live together. It does not mean that we are not open to the world… If you follow the news you can see that most different communities do not live together. Muslims Don t mix with Christians and Don t share anything food feasts sport…
Then I really think that multicultural societies will create civil wars…. And the idea of uniform Nation are very modern and much more peacefull
the world village where everybody will eat hallal Mac Donald and be dismissive to Islam is the most stupid thing that free masons liberals created…
Nations will disappear completely within a century.
People like you belong in the museum with the rest of the fossils ;)
ah.. That would be so stupid.. If you think that modernity is uniformity then I prefer to be a fossil…. What you call modernity is aculturation uniformity poverty… Stupidity…. This is the Orwell society.. Read his book
this is the world that liberals free masons want… They are those I fight
They want slavery….
not really, countries are a very old concept. Before there were tribes. Now we move towards a more global village, more super states who can interact with other super states and mega companies. Because even your countries can’t do much against USA, China or even Google, Facebook,…
No
NO .. but OK .. LIFE goes ON ..
No, it just shows that we are all VERY different, we have few things in common and the supposed ” union ” is a myth.
The Union works and we all reap its benefits.
Europe before the EU was a very bleak place. Study history or you’ll be doomed to repeat it.
you know that the best marriages are among people with different views.
There were huge lines for the Romanian part, a lot of people that are part of the diaspora could not vote, some waited hours and hours and still could not get the chance to cast their choice. The EU should really look into this…
=> More and more neo-fascists coming in the Parliament due to the forcing of ultra-liberals policies
=> Going to the wall together with our candid and ignorant smiles while bio-diversity is rapidly dying (after all, who cares as long as WE – selfish people – have all the comfort we want to the detriment of the fauna&flora)
=> Carrying on with the divisions of our societies while the 1% of richest people continue to recklessly exploit limited ressources / impoverished people, subsequently increasing the inequality gap
How can we not be happy to see the direction following these results?
#distressfulirony
Support to far-right pro-Russian hateful populists has been much weaker than initially expected and more than 75% of elected MEPs are fully pro-Union so, yes, very happy!! 💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻🇪🇺🇪🇺🇪🇺
In general not that much happy cause the Populist Parties consolidated their support. But am happy about the new wave of young voters who are ready to tackle and fight the Populists and their ideas. So the Future is bright and there is hope in the Future
The populists can never unite – they will tear each other apart because each of them cares only about their own interests (and pockets, more importantly).
So I wouldn’t worry too much about them. They are a temporary phenomenon and will fade away into obscurity after a while. Fascism will never rise again.
No ! :(
Not in my country, didnt vote almost 70%. And so the Leftists won😢😢😢
👍
No, but this is how the people voted and I will respect that.
I’m proud of my country so yeah
Not really…
as a forign resident with no right to vote in my country of residence i am happy that it turned out the way it did. I emigrated from Canada to escape a rising obstinate right, and am pleased generally to see that it seems to have fizzled a little. yes there were some gains, but I am sure a lot of disappointment for the right wing
Yes and no, in the UK.
Yes because Farage and his Brexit party got the support of around 12-13% of the UK voting population so have no mandate to demand anything
No because the vote turnout was poor again and remain parties didn’t get as much of a share as hoped, though they still got more combined than Brexit/UKIP giving a good counter argument to the hard brexit people
No also because the Tories under someone like Johnson will use this as an argument to continue with a no deal if nothing is agreed in October in an attempt to win back votes
Tuarangi
You are totally wrong. The Brexit party one by a landslide. The percentage of voters was more than in many general elections. Boris, I agree, is not a suitable leader. He is not a good example either politically, emotionally or morally. He was married, had two illegitimate children whilst in his marriage, where he had three more and now, having abandoned same wife and children, has a mistress he plans to take with him as PM. His politics are all over the place, neither in nor out. They are whatever he thinks has most voters, which tells you the percentage who want Brexit, are far higher than remain.
We have now had three votes on the issue, the first referendum, the general election, now the European election, all of which had a minority for out. Why can you not bear the idea of democracy. I bet if one vote showed just one over the required win, you would go along with that being the outright winner. Just as when they dragged in a criminal MP to add to the parliamentary vote recently.
We do have an obvious leader for our country, and why he has not been added to the list is indeed an enigma. Could it be ‘he’ may win over the country and bring it together, united, again?
Here he is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHqFAYDDy0I
The election shows that the Union is a working democracy, I am very happy about that. Now, as conservatives lost in most countries, let’s fight for a more federal Europe!
@ Turangi,
I made a horrid faux pas in my earlier post to you, it should have read, an astounding majority for ‘out,’ not for Remain.
How can I be pleased when the choice is always between people who have been corrupt for years and the elections are being manipulated?
can you please be more creative. Show me an election, and i will show you political elite and manipulation. I think that even people in old Greece complained about their rulers thousands years ago.
I DO NOT CARE NO P PEACE WITHOUT JUSTICE ✊
Too many people voted for Green parties, when there’s not much more Europe can do to address it.
Hi Marc – good point!
While the Greens (“young gen”) can count themselves towards some of the election winners (2.5% increase & 4th largest EU party with a total 9.2% in the EP)- pollution reduction in general terms is very complex but need a balanced policy.
All EU parties have or should have a “Green component” incorporated in their main agendas. A party with a mainly “green agenda” is somehow politically incomplete and may just reflect a current but temporary overreaction.
It will be interesting to see what the “Greens” will be able to do (more than the EU does at present) in furthering sustainable development & reduce pollution in the EU- without becoming an impeding force for the EU economy.
How will/can the “Greens” extend any meaningful influence to counter the real & biggest global polluters like: China 30%, USA15%, India 7%, Russia 5% Japan 4%? Nobody lives in isolation- the big Asian polluters effect us all & everything.
Will some of the big polluters seriously listen to a “small green EP faction”?
The 9.2% Green EP component will probably compete with another winner- the ALDE 14.5% (+5.6% up) to play alternate kingmaker in the EP- to both losers- the EPP & S&D (together 43.4%)- who failed to repeat and reach the 2014 absolute majority of 54.7%.
A coalition of 2 parties need some compromises- a coalition of 3 becomes very difficult if not near impossible to govern- since no party can fully assert their agenda. Will the future EU become near ungovernable?
Some statistics to look at:
https://www.activesustainability.com/environment/top-5-most-polluting-countries/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most-polluted_cities_by_particulate_matter_concentration
https://www.shopetee.com/blogs/news/what-are-the-most-polluting-industies-the-answer-is-complicated
https://phys.org/news/2019-03-air-pollution-hotspots-europe.html
Let’s see what comes out of those results i.e. how the next Commission and Council will look like
Yes – the fascists did not get as much support as they had hoped. The legendary “populist wave” that we were supposed to be afraid of never happened. Brexit is going to fail as well.
Make no mistake – the nationalists do not care about you or your prosperity, they only crave power. They have sold their souls to Russia.
Lyubomir
The fascists you speak of are in the process of being eliminated from the British Parliament. And, it is being done by citizens through Brexit. The Remainers, in large percentage, are not British.They do not have the British people or their aspirations as priority. They are klingons.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfffVMVk6ac
And, as far as so called ‘Russian’ intervention is concerned, proof, even small examples of evidence would go down very well. Otherwise, keep fake news for your friends.
Lyubomir you sold your soul to the thieves of europe
I am just a guy who doesn’t want to be ruled by Nazis.
Last time we had Nazis, they caused a world war and millions of people died. If you wnat this to happen again, that’s your problem.
Happy with the elections, but I would prefer candidate lists that are the same in all countries. In Flanders we have been able to send 1 green member to the Parliament. Based on the total number of members in the fraction, will we be heard? Will representations of big countries listen to that sole flemish candidate or will she be ignored? Anyway, I hope that Europe becomes more social and environmental and not only a banking union.
The EU joy over the increase in turnout to ~50.95% in 2019 might be hollow after all!
The average participation for the last 8 EU elections was ~52.08%. If one includes this election than the average t.d. is ~51.95%. The 2019 50.95% result is higher than some previous figures, but still narrowly below the overall average.
Could the 2019 increase not reflect that many voters were worried that the EU is/was going in the wrong direction and came out “in numbers to vote” to show their displeasure with the EU- rather than their pleasure? The considerable losses by both the EPP & S&D pro EU parties (-11.49%) would suggest so.
A solution could be to let the staunch “federalists” go ahead (multi speed) to form their “super union” under the leadership of the ALDE & any one wishing to follow suit.
These “emerging participants” could be countries from the 1984 EU10. Why not ask them?
Certainly happy that more people went and voted!!!!!
I am not satisfied at all
Yes yes yes….very happy….the distruction of the EU is still going on full force…..keep it going!!!!! Good job!!!!!!
Not bad,italia,France extreem right had won.But those countries can,t live without the eu and they know it Crying and insulting the germans doesn,t help.The britisch disaster Made europe stronger.I don,t think they Will leave,and as they do we get n ireland and scotland and no treators in our parlement.
I’m very happy we are not served anymore with europeist propaganda that was everywhere for months, and we are back to the blind and stupid application of the european treaties. Really, I’m glad we are back to normal.
Yeah, excepting West Europe, everything is good. Disconsidering all the obstacles inserted in the way of electorate (the long queues at Romanian polling station in all Europe), the most corrupted party in Romania lost the elections and the most pro-European party and strongly anti-corruption ended 3rd, very close to the 2nd position (over 20%). In Hungary, even Orban won again with an amazing percentage, there is hope for a better, less corrupted and more pro-European future for Hungary. That hope is called Momentum Mozgalom, which took only 2-3% 2-3 years ago and now they are at 9.95%
Im moreso annoyed with the media attention to the far right is really annoying. They did not win. The Christians did. Followed by the socialists. But the media doesn’t care
Belgium is and was better of without Europe