About: European Parliament elections Archives

Only with the proliferation of trans-European parties can we build the "strong and stable democracy" needed to see the EU achieve its potential as a "world power", Bart Kruitwagen, treasurer of the 'Newropeans' party, told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview ahead of the European elections.

Getting citizens to vote in the European elections should not be a gruelling task, according to Monique Goyens, director-general of BEUC, the EU consumer organisation. In an interview with EURACTIV, she explained how a proposed “consumer pact” could re-connect voters to Europe.

Hungary and Slovakia must make a major effort to overcome nationalist tension, Péter Balázs, recently appointed as Hungary's new foreign minister, told EURACTIV Hungary in an exclusive interview.

Two months ahead of the European elections, British scholar Simon Hix predicts the next European Parliament will be more evenly divided between centre-right and centre-left, but the growing influence of Central and Eastern European MEPs will shift the power balance within the political groups.

The Euro-critical EU Democrats (EUD) could form a new European Parliament group with anti-Lisbon Treaty platform Libertas after the June elections, EUD President Sören Wibe told EURACTIV in an interview.

The parties of the European left have not yet been able to rise to the challenge of the world economic crisis, Georgi Pirinski, chairman of the National Assembly of Bulgaria, told EURACTIV in an interview.

The fact that the economies of the US and EU countries are at different stages of recession explains their differences over how to respond to the crisis, Graham Watson, leader of the European Liberal Democrats group in the European Parliament, told EURACTIV in an interview.

Female politicians in the UK do well in the European Parliament as it offers "the sort of politics women like to be associated with" and is "much more collegial, much more consensual and less confrontational 'ya-boo' boy politics of Westminster," the leader of the UK Labour delegation in the European Parliament, Glenis Willmott, told EURACTIV in an interview.

Aligning his party's four MEPs to the European Liberals could weaken their ability to "deliver policy at a European level," Brian Crowley, leader in the European Parliament of both the Union for Europe of the Nations (UEN) group and the Irish Fianna Fáil delegation, told EURACTIV in an interview.

Greek member of Parliament and former Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs, Anna Diamantopoulou, told EURACTIV in an interview that Europe should fight protectionism, which she sees as a ‘boomerang’ that hits back countries trying to restrict competition and free trade.

"Germany has enormous potential" for anti-Lisbon Treaty party Libertas in this June's European elections, its controversial chairman Declan Ganley told EURACTIV in an interview.

Mincho Hristov, a Bulgarian MP who was listed as a member of the Libertas anti-Lisbon campaign group in an application to win pan-European party status, denied the affiliation in an interview with EURACTIV yesterday (4 February).

One of the youngest MEPs in the European Parliament, German liberal Alexander Alvaro, told EURACTIV in an interview that Eurosceptics will try to gain ground at the European elections next June, but will not succeed "because in times of crisis, voters do not want to try new experiments". 

The UK Conservatives will increase their majority over Labour in June's European elections, and will abide by party leader David Cameron's decision on whether to pull the party out of the centre-right EPP-ED group after the ballot, Timothy Kirkhope MEP, leader of the Conservative delegation to the European Parliament, told EURACTIV in an interview.

Ahead of next summer's European elections, politicians should adopt a different political discourse based on values to engage citizens in the European project, Ernst Stetter, secretary-general of the newly-launched Foundation for European Progressive Studies, told EURACTIV in an interview.

UK Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg spoke to EURACTIV in an interview about his party's aim to knock on a million doors in the country ahead of next year's European elections. He also spoke of his belief that a return to face-to-face politics, combined with innovative campaign technologies, can combat growing political apathy among voters.

The fallout from the global financial crisis and divisions among European conservatives have given the Party of European Socialists (PES) a strong platform from which to become the European Parliament's largest group in elections next June, believes Martin Schulz MEP, the leader of the Socialist Group in the European Parliament, who spoke to EURACTIV at the PES Congress in Madrid.

Regional parliaments will not stand still ahead of the EU elections, said Herwig van Staa, president of the conference of presidents of the regional legislative assemblies of Europe (CALRE). He spoke to EURACTIV about the initiatives planned by regional parliaments to engage with citizens in the run-up to the European poll.

The negative referendum on the EU Constitution in 2005 was a lesson learned for Ivo Opstelten, mayor of Rotterdam, who launched a citizens' initiative to put what Europe is all about into simple language. He spoke to EURACTIV about the scheme.

The "institutional limbo" surrounding the Lisbon Treaty may lead to "new euroscepticism across Europe" during next year's European elections, according to Swedish EU Affairs Minister Cecilia Malmström.

An "ideological coalition", holding a majority in the European Parliament, should be formed after the EU elections in June 2009 to push forward a substantial package on the economy, Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) leader Graham Watson told EURACTIV in an interview.

Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen wants EU leaders to "stick to free market principles" and prevent those who are "trying to abuse the financial crisis" from introducing "protectionist measures" for domestic industries. He spoke to EURACTIV before his keynote address at the European Liberal Democrats' annual congress in Stockholm last week.

Irish centre-right MEP Colm Burke (EPP) recently became the first Irish politician to propose a specific 'roadmap' for holding a second Lisbon referendum in Ireland. Discussing this plan and other issues in an interview with EURACTIV, Burke called for a multi-question referendum to be held in October 2009, allowing Irish citizens to vote on possible opt-outs from the Lisbon Treaty while also constituting a second ballot on the text itself.

Daniel Cohn-Bendit, the co-president of the Green group in the European Parliament, shared his views on the forthcoming European elections with EURACTIV France, unveiling "Europe Ecologie", a new movement launched together with radical farmer and peasant leader José Bové.