On the 3 May 2019, the EFPI/ICDS together with the European Commission Representation in Estonia and Trans European Policy Studies Association (TEPSA) organised a half-day conference “European Parliament Elections 2019: A Shake-Up of EU Politics?”.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Income inequality, spending power and economic growth are one of the key topics across Europe. Migration is still high in the agenda, however, is becoming less relevant. Among Europeans, there is a strong sense of alienation and little belief in ability to change and influence political processes cross Europe.
- The turnout to the upcoming European Parliament elections is not likely to be high.
- Activism on certain issues is on the rise, especially on issues like climate change, social and labour rights, gender equality.
- While European topics and themes are part of political debates in Europe, then they do not trickle down to electoral debates.
- National parties have troubles running EP elections campaigns. The visibility of MEP candidates is low and debates are dominated mostly by national issues. Parties tend to stick into their traditional patterns, ignoring the strong activism and increasingly issue-based political landscape.
- European Parliament is likely to be more fragmented, however, the general status quo is likely to stay as the grand coalition in the centre will hold. The key question is if the Eurosceptic forces will unite enough to influence political processes of the EU and if there will be an united liberal progressive front to balance it out.
- Climate change, migration and economic equality are themes that should be high in the EU’s agenda in the coming years.
The programme of the event is here.
Speaker bios can be viewed here.
You can watch the panels here:
Panel “European Parliament Elections in the Member States”
Panel “What kind of European Parliament to expect?”
Gallery (Photos by Raigo Pajula):
Filed under: Events