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.