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Abstract

The 2014 European Parliament elections took place in a very fragile environment. Economic crisis, bailout packages, and austerity measures were the central agenda in many countries while a strong decline of trust in European and national institutions in some parts of the Union were alarming. The politicization of Europe has been accelerated with the crisis while the roles of arenas have been changing. “Spitzenkandidat”, European Commission president candidate of political groups, started a new era, which may become really important in the future, in European Parliament elections. This paper comments on the aggregate EP election results and compares them with the latest national parliamentary elections, after 2009. It also provides volatility data for EP elections, aiming to discuss re-alignment in member states. The historical discussion of if EP elections are second-order national elections will be on the table. Political parties will be taken as the unit of analysis and the trends of increasing extreme right, shrinking mainstream parties and the changes party systems going through will be analysed.

  Posts

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June 14th, 2016

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly – 5 + 1 Steps Away From Visa-Free Travel for Turkish Nationals

* This article has been published by Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union (with Melih Özsöz).   Aspired facilitation of the issuance of […]

June 7th, 2016

The European Response to the Refugee Crisis: Angela Merkel on the Move

* This article has been published by Istanbul Policy Center (with Bianca Benvenuti)   Executive Summary The European project has hit strong […]

March 15th, 2016

Stormy months on the Aegean: the refugee deal and its impact on Turkey-EU relations

* This article has been published by Real Instituto Elcano, Madrid, Spain (with Melih Özsöz).   Theme The refugee deal of […]

March 1st, 2016

Reshaping relations in the midst of crises: A bitter anniversary for Turkey-EU accession negotiations

* This policy brief has been published by Istanbul Policy Center (with Melih Özsöz).   Executive Summary Relations between Turkey […]

January 6th, 2016

A New Era in Spanish Politics: Time to Negotiate

* This article has been published by Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union (with Marta Paradés).   The question that has to be […]

December 21st, 2015

New politics in Spain: No more two-party dominance, it is time to negotiate

* This article has been published by Hurriyet Daily News   Spanish citizens went to the ballot box on Dec. […]

December 1st, 2015

How to read the next generation progress reports

* This article has been published by Hurriyet Daily News (with Melih Özsöz).   The annual progress reports prepared by […]

November 7th, 2015

Having won back his majority, Erdoğan must now focus on reuniting Turkish society

* This article has been published by London School of Economics European Policy and Politics (EUROPP) Blog   The November elections […]

November 3rd, 2015

Unas elecciones extraordinarias, unos resultados extraordinarios: Turquía ha vuelto a la mayoría absoluta

* Este articulo se ha publicado en Agenda Publica.   Como consecuencia de la imposibilidad –o, mejor dicho, de la […]

October 25th, 2015

Turkey-EU deal on migrant crisis: Just a tactical whitewash?

* This article has been published by Hurriyet Daily News (with Melih Özsöz).   Relations between Turkey and the European […]