At a SIEPS seminar held on 26 paril 2019, Professor Simon Hix, London School of Economics, presented a forecast of the election results and their impact on the European Parliament, written together with Doru Frantescu, CEO of VoteWatch Europe.
The upcoming elections to the European Parliament are expected to lead to more votes for populist parties and a weakening of the biggest party groups. This means that a number of policy decisions could end up differently after 2019, for example in the environmental area.
The study is based on an analysis of ten key votes in 2014-19, to bring out the dynamics of shifting majorities in the European Parliament. The role of the party groups and the importance of their internal cohesion was discussed.
The report was commented on by Christofer Fjellner (M), Member of the European Parliament, and Åsa Westlund (S), Member of the Swedish Parliament and former Member of the European Parliament. They discussed the way the European Parliament works and how it differs from the Swedish Parliament. What are the implications for an individual MEP? What can you do to gain influence in the European Parliament?
