Tag: elections

The EU should make better use of new technologies to improve its democratic decision making, transparency and participation. This is key in an election year, at a time when the sense of trust among citizens in its institutions is at an all-time low, writes Marietje Schaake.

The French Interior Ministry has drafted a law that will allow non-national EU citizens to stand in the next European Parliament elections, in line with the requirements of the Lisbon Treaty. EurActiv France reports.

Angela Merkel's allies swept to victory in a state election in Bavaria on Sunday, regaining the absolute assembly majority they lost in 2008 and providing a show of conservative strength for the chancellor a week before Germany goes to the polls.

EXCLUSIVE / José Bové, the famously outspoken French MEP and Farmers Union leader, has condemned US officials for a "lack of transparency" in demanding secrecy in transatlantic trade talks with their EU counterparts.

It would be naive to believe that Germany's economy can stay healthy while much of the rest of the continent is "sick". So, as Peer Steinbrück and the SPD demanded repeatedly, it is in Germany's interest to finally rethink its strategy and boost growth writes Jo Leinen MEP.

An ally of President Vladimir Putin was heading for victory in a Moscow mayoral election on Sunday (8 September) but opposition leader Alexei Navalny's unexpectedly strong showing could alarm the Kremlin and fuel Russia's flagging protest movement.

German chancellor Angela Merkel’s best bet for a stable third term could very well be a coalition with the Green Party, writes Kevin Lees.

After Wilfried Martens, the long-serving president of the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), was admitted to hospital, discrete talks have began about his succession despite his expected recovery, EurActiv has learned.

Chancellor Angela Merkel and her Social Democrat challenger in this month's German election clashed over the euro, tax policy and US spying in a television debate yesterday (1 September) that produced no clear winner.

In order to show off their new eurosceptic credentials, the Dutch government announced a major "subsidiarity review" of Dutch EU policy – begging comparisons with the UK’s home-grown "competence review". But British Tories will find little comfort in reading the review, writes Andrew Duff.

The controversial Dutch far-right leader wants to gather like-minded parties in a mass movement ahead of next year's European elections, but not all are ready to join. UKIP frontrunner Nigel Farage has rejected such an initiative.

Less than 20% of Norwegian voters want their country to join the European Union, according to a poll published ahead of a general election to be held on 9 September.

Alexis Tsipras, the leader of the Greek leftist Syriza party, said talk of a possible third bailout for Athens was a signal that the government had failed and that new elections were needed, EurActiv Greece reports.

The Czech parliament voted yesterday (20 August) to dissolve itself, triggering an early election that could hand the Communist Party a share of power for the first time since a bloodless revolution ended the party's totalitarian rule two decades ago.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel launched her re-election campaign yesterday (14 August) by presenting herself to voters in this mediaeval town in the heart of Germany as a safe pair of hands who would steer the country through crisis and ensure continued prosperity.

The Czech cabinet dominated by allies of leftist President Miloš Zeman resigned yesterday (13 August) after losing a confidence vote last week, clearing the way for early elections that could resolve a political deadlock.

German opposition parties accused Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday (11 August) of lying before elections next month about the risks of a new bailout for Greece, after a magazine reported the Bundesbank expects it will need more European aid in early 2014.

The Czech Parliament is expected to vote next week to dissolve itself, clearing the way for early elections to end a stand-off with the president that has crippled policymaking for nearly two months.

An Italian Supreme Court ruling that bans Silvio Berlusconi from running for election for the next six years could set off a struggle for the leadership of his party, although odds are good that another Berlusconi will succeed the ex-prime minister.

The European Union’s economic and financial challenges left the bloc in no doubt that its most populous member state is also its most politically powerful. On 22 September 2013, Germans will decide in a federal election whether that power remains within its current ruling conservative coalition led by incumbent Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU), or whether to entrust it to the Social Democrats or a new coalition. In the run up to the elections, Europe has largely remained off the agenda.

A ruling by Italy's supreme court upholding a tax fraud conviction against former premier and centre-right leader Silvio Berlusconi has left the fate of the country's fragile ruling coalition resting in the balance.

More than two decades after taking part in pro-democracy protests against Bulgaria's crumbling communist regime, business executive Sasha Bezuhanova feels her life has come full circle.

Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta rebuked Europe for its handling of the Greek crisis on Monday (29 July), saying the harsh austerity imposed on Athens had deepened the recession and worsened unemployment across the continent.

An institutional crisis of the kind the EU cannot afford would happen if the European elections put forward a candidate for Commission president who would not have the support of his own country, Günter Verheugen, former Commission vice president and enlargement commissioner, told EurActiv Poland.