Next year’s elections may reconfigure EU politics

Subject

Preview of the 2019 European Parliament elections.

Significance

European Parliament (EP) elections will take place in May 2019. The rise of far-right and in some cases far-left populist parties in recent national elections and the departure of 73 UK EP members (MEPs) due to Brexit will likely lead to a shake-up of the pan-European political parties (Europarties) that group together MEPs and organise politics in the EP.

Impacts

• The most salient axis of competition will not be the traditional left vs right divide, but Eurosceptic populist vs pro-EU centrist.
• If populists make major gains and form effective alliances, this would be seen as a crisis and a threat to the functioning of the Union.
• Shifting alliances in the EP will impact how the EU deals with various national governments.