Die neunten Direktwahlen zum Europäischen Parlament: Rahmenbedingungen, Parteien und Bürger in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 715-735
Author(s):  
Daniela Braun ◽  
Markus Tausendpfund
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
European Integration ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Significant Loss ◽  
The Other ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Elections ◽  
The One ◽  
European Parliament Elections

Despite a higher turnout, the ninth elections to the European Parliament can still be considered as second-order elections . In Germany, the governing parties - in particular the CDU and SPD - experienced a significant loss compared to the 2017 Bundestag elections and the 2014 European elections, whereas the Greens are the winners . The article provides information on the conditions framing the European Parliament elections and focuses on political parties and citizens . The empirical findings show, on the one hand, that the European integration issue is more salient in the manifestos than generally assumed and, on the other hand, that citizens’ knowledge of the European Union continues to be low . Against this background, turnout, electoral choices and reasons for these are discussed . Moreover, the composition of the newly elected European Parliament and possible implications are described . [ZParl, vol . 50 (2019), no . 4, pp . 715 - 735]

The Making of a President: The European Parliament and the Confirmation of Jacques Santer as President of the Commission

1996 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Hix ◽  
Christopher Lord
Keyword(s):  
European Parliament ◽  
The Other ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Political Debate ◽  
European Elections ◽  
Shared Meanings ◽  
Single European Act ◽  
The One ◽  
Council Of Ministers ◽  
The Eu

THE SINGLE EUROPEAN ACT AND THE MAASTRICHT TREATY attempted to balance two principles of representation in their redesign of the institutional structures of the European Union: the one, based on the indirect representation of publics through nationally elected governments in the European Council and Council of Ministers; the other, based on the direct representation of publics through a more powerful European Parliament. There is much to be said for this balance, for neither of the two principles can, on its own, be an adequate solution at this stage in the development of the EU. The Council suffers from a non-transparent style of decision-making and is, in the view of many, closer to oligarchic than to democratic politics. On the other hand, the claims of the European Parliament to represent public sentiments on European integration are limited by low voter participation, the second-order nature of European elections and the still Protean nature of what we might call a transnational European demos. The EU lacks a single public arena of political debate, communications and shared meanings; of partisan aggregation and political entrepreneurship; and of high and even acceptance, across issues and member states, that it is European and not national majority views which should count in collective rule-making.

scholarly journals Do European elections enhance satisfaction with European Union democracy?

2020 ◽  
pp. 146511652097028
Author(s):  
Carolina Plescia ◽  
Jean-François Daoust ◽  
André Blais
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
National Identity ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Elections ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Satisfaction With Democracy ◽  
Union Democracy ◽  
Important Message ◽  
European Parliament Elections

We provide the first individual-level test of whether holding supranational elections in the European Union fosters satisfaction with European Union democracy. First, we examine whether participation at the European Parliament election fosters satisfaction with democracy and whether, among those who participated, a winner–loser gap materializes at the EU level. Second, we examine under which conditions participating and winning in the election affect satisfaction with European Union democracy, focusing on the moderating role of exclusive national identity. Our approach relies on panel data collected during the 2019 European Parliament elections in eight countries. We demonstrate that while participating and winning increase satisfaction, such positive boost does not materialize among those with exclusive national identity. These findings hold an important message: elections are no cure to deep-seated alienation.

THE RESULTS OF EUROPEAN ELECTIONS 2019: NEW ALIGNMENT OF FORCES IN THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND EUROPEAN COMMISSION, INCLUDING GENDER ASPECT

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 10-16
Author(s):  
BORIS GUSELETOV ◽  
Keyword(s):  
European Commission ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
The Other ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Elections ◽  
People's Party ◽  
Mechanism Of Interaction ◽  
European People’S Party ◽  
Election Results ◽  
The One

The article presents an analysis of the results of the 2019 elections of members of the European Parliament and the formation of a new composition of the European Commission. The question of how the balance of power has changed in the new Parliament between the traditionally leading parties of the European conservatives (European people's party) and socialists (Party of European socialists), on the one hand, and the other parties (Liberals, Greens, Communists, etc.), which traditionally play a secondary role, on the other. The results of the so-called eurosceptic parties, which in recent years have significantly increased their influence both at the European and national levels, are analyzed. It shows how the election results affected the distribution of leadership positions in the European Parliament itself, as well as their impact on the formation of the new composition of the European Commission. The article examines how the mechanism of interaction between the European Parliament and the European Council has changed during the formation of the European Commission and what impact these changes have on the prospects for future interaction between these institutions. In conclusion, the prospects for further development of the European Union are outlined, including the need to reform its political and socio-economic systems.

scholarly journals New Tendencies of Political Parties Transformation in the Era of Globalization and Digital Technologies on the Example of Europe

2021 ◽  
Vol 65 (5) ◽  
pp. 28-38
Author(s):  
B. Guseletov
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Political System ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
European Elections ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
European Parties ◽  
The Impact

Received 30.10.2020. The article examines the processes of formation and institutionalization of pan-European parties (Europarties) as a new institution in the party-political system of the European Union. This institution emerged relatively recently in the mid‑1970s, on the eve of the first European elections in 1979. The main stages of institutionalization of European parties and their factions in the European Parliament are presented. The article shows the key differences between this type of a party and traditional political parties as well as the way relations between the European parties and national parties from the EU member states are developing. It analyzes the current state of these parties and the impact of the most important challenges that the European Union has faced in the last decade: the global financial and economic crisis, the migration crisis in Europe, Brexit, and the coronavirus pandemic. The article considers the legal basis for ensuring the functioning of these parties, which is contained in the Lisbon Treaty, and a number of other fundamental acts of the European Union regulating the activities of its political system. The results of the 2014 and 2019 pan-European parliamentary elections are analyzed; it is shown how positions of the leading European parties represented in the European Parliament have changed. The reasons for the change in the electoral results of these parties, including the growing popularity of Eurosceptic parties, are indicated. It is noted to which EU member states the most popular European parties belong, and what the reason for this distribution is. The article presents new trends in the development of the Institute of European parties associated with an active use of new communication technologies in party building, as well as the emergence of a new type of European parties that advocate the federalization of the European Union.

Exit from Joint-decision Problems?

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-27
Author(s):  
Lucas Schramm
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Integration ◽  
The Other ◽  
Decision Problems ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Eurozone Crisis ◽  
Joint Decision ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The One ◽  
The Eu

Over the last decade, the European Union (EU) has faced a multitude of crises. Importantly, the various crises have led to different outcomes: Whereas the Eurozone crisis, for example, led to more European integration, the Schengen crisis arguably resulted in a partial European disintegration. Applying models of joint-decision problems in the EU, this paper analyses why and how these two crises led to divergent outcomes. It finds that higher levels of functional pressures, higher capacities of supranational agency, and more room for package deals enabled the EU to exit from joint-decision problems in the Eurozone crisis, whereas these and other potential exit mechanisms were widely unavailable in the Schengen crisis. Looking explicitly at the (missing) availability of exit mechanisms from joint-decision problems, this paper goes beyond the application of the usual European integration theories, which struggle to explain the variation in crisis outcomes. Furthermore, the paper makes a contribution to the more recent academic discussions on European integration/ disintegration, on the one hand, and the legitimacy-effectiveness gap, on the other hand.

scholarly journals The Consequences of “Options” in the Directive 2013/34/Eu of the European Parliament and of the Council on the Financial Statements

2017 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 1349-1357
Author(s):  
Eva Hýblová ◽  
Alena Kolčavová
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Financial Reporting ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
The Other ◽  
Financial Statement ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Consolidated Financial Statements ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The One

Directive 13/34/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on the annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings is an instrument of the harmonisation of accounting in member states of the European Union. The Directive contains a number of various ways for recognition and measurement of financial statements, alternative forms of statements or simplifications for small and medium sized enterprises, worded as “permit or require”. On the one hand, these differing ways can facilitate application of the Directive in national legislations; on the other hand, they can significantly reduce the comparability of information published in financial statements. The aim of the paper is to verify the relation between the options to be chosen and the variability of the resulting values of the financial statement items. Based on the findings, the results are evaluated in relation to the informative function of financial reporting.

scholarly journals When do parties put Europe in the centre? Evidence from the 2019 European Parliament election campaign

Politics ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 026339572110083
Author(s):  
Michaela Maier ◽  
Carlos Jalali ◽  
Jürgen Maier ◽  
Alessandro Nai ◽  
Sebastian Stier
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
National Level ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Integrated Model ◽  
Election Campaign ◽  
European Elections ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
The Media ◽  
Opposition Parties

European elections have been described as second-order phenomena for voters, the media, but also parties. Yet, since 2009, there exists evidence that not only voters, but also political parties assign increasing significance to European elections. While initially ‘issue entrepreneurs’ were held responsible for this development, the latest campaigns have raised the question of whether mainstream parties are finally also campaigning on European issues. In this article, we examine European Union (EU) salience in the 2019 European Parliament (EP) campaigns of government and opposition parties and the predictors of their strategic behaviours. We test the relevance of factors derived from the selective emphasis and the co-orientation approach within an integrated model of strategic campaign communication based on expert evaluations of 191 parties in 28 EU member states. Results show that the traditional expectation that government parties silence EU issues does not hold anymore; instead, the average EU salience of government and opposition parties is similar on the national level. The strongest predictors for a party’s decision to campaign on EU issues are the co-orientation towards the campaign agendas of competing parties, and party’s EU position.

Moving Beyond Procedure

2002 ◽  
Vol 35 (7) ◽  
pp. 784-813 ◽  
Author(s):  
AMIE KREPPEL
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Decision Procedures ◽  
The Other ◽  
Current Debate ◽  
Legislative Process ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Legislative Influence

This article examines the influence of the European Parliament (EP) within the legislative process of the European Union. Although debate over the impact of the cooperation and co-decision I procedures continues, this article argues that, in part, the current theoretical debate is a false one that has caused many of the other important variables that affect EP legislative influence to be ignored. This article briefly revisits the current debate, then proceeds to an analysis of the success of more than 1,000 EP amendments under the cooperation and co-decision procedures. This evidence suggests that numerous other variables, such as internal EP unity and type of amendment made, have a significant impact on EP success, even controlling for procedure. In addition, this comparison points out some empirical differences between the two procedures that have been largely ignored in the theoretical debate but that nonetheless have a significant impact of EP success and merit further study.

scholarly journals Do Citizens Reward Place-Based Policy? Evidence from the European Union

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roman Senninger
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Economic Performance ◽  
Local Environment ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Economic Downturn ◽  
Survey Experiment ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Election Results ◽  
European Parliament Elections

Governments redistribute ever larger shares of their budgets to enhance the economic performance of specific areas within their jurisdiction. However, there is little evidence about one of the most fundamental questions arising from such place-based policies: Do citizens reward politicians for funding that benefits their local environment? To answer this question, I turn to the European Union and leverage quasi-experimental data from an initiative that distributed vouchers to European municipalities to establish free and high-quality WiFI connectivity before the European Parliament election in 2019. Moreover, I analyze geolocated data about beneficiaries of two major European Union funds, European Parliament election results along with register data from polling stations, and a city-wide survey experiment in Denmark. The results show that European place-based policy has little to no impact on turnout and Eurosceptic voting in European Parliament elections. The findings are discussed in the light of the recently introduced European Union recovery fund to combat economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Time is of the essence: Explaining the duration of European Union lawmaking under the co-decision procedure

2021 ◽  
pp. 019251212110364
Author(s):  
Adam Kirpsza
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Decision Procedure ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Issue Linkage ◽  
Rational Choice Institutionalism ◽  
Legislative Procedure ◽  
Ordinary Legislative Procedure ◽  
European Parliament Elections

The article explores factors affecting the duration of the co-decision procedure (currently the ordinary legislative procedure), the main procedure for adopting legislation in the European Union. Drawing from rational choice institutionalism, it expects the speed of co-decision to be determined by three attributes: the impatience of legislators, issue linkage and the characteristics of Council and European Parliament negotiators ( relais actors). The hypotheses are tested using survival analysis on a dataset of 599 controversial legislative acts submitted and enacted under co-decision between 1999 and 2009. The results show that co-decision proposals are decided faster when they are urgent, negotiated prior to the European Parliament elections and concluded through single proposal logrolls. By contrast, multi-proposal packages and the ideological distance between relais actors prolong decision-making. Overall, the article contributes to the literature by showing that the impatience of legislators, package deals and the properties of negotiators are relevant drivers of co-decision duration.

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