European Citizens Elect New European Parliament

European Citizens Elect New European Parliament

From 23 to 26 May 2019, European citizens elected the new European Parliament (EP) for the period 2019 - 2024. An impressive outcome of these elections was the fact that voter turnout has increased for the first time in 20 years, with around 51 % of all voters casting their ballot.

Beyond this, many questions regarding the constitution and work of the incoming EP are currently still open. At the time of the Monthly Report publication, the final list of newly elected MEPs has not been published yet. After its publication, political groups –groupings of MEPs from different EU Member States that form on the basis of their political affinities – will be constituted. While some existing EP groups will stay, it is likely that new formations will develop because of the inclusion of new national parties or changes in EU-wide coalitions. Even inside the existing groups, different results on the national level will lead to new leaders appearing in the existing structures. Republique En Marche, party of the French President Emmanuel Macron, will for example become the biggest national group in the liberal ALDE group, while the Spanish Socialist Party will hold the largest number of MEPs in the Social-Democrat group.

Overall, one can however already take away some considerations for the future work. For the first time, the two big political groups, the European People’s Party (EPP) and the Socialist and Democrats (S&D) do not have a common majority anymore, dropping under a combined 50 % of seats. This means that other groups will have to agree on common positions in order to adopt legislation or make decisions in the coming personnel discussions. This creates potential king maker roles for the Greens and Liberal groups and could lead to an increased number of votes being decided topic by topic instead of along political lines.

Similarly, it has to be seen what effect the results will have on the decision on the future Commission President. In 2014, the so-called Spitzenkandidat-Prozess was applied for the first time, with Jean-Claude Juncker being elected President of the Commission as the lead candidate of the biggest group (EPP). Whether this will be the case again this time around, is currently open, with a number of Member States seemingly reluctant to follow the same logic again. In parallel, the distribution of votes equally leads to a more complex negotiations inside the EP itself, where the designated candidates will now have to convince other groups to support them.

These decisions will naturally have an important impact on sport. Trilogue negotiations between the Council, EP and the Commission on the EU's future multiannual financial framework (MFF) and on the concrete shape of future funding programmes are looming - in recent weeks and months, the old Parliament has adopted many files or positions that support sport in this regard.

Similarly, the European Parliament will take up an important role considering the newly appointed Commissioner and the portfolios they will take on. In 2014, the EP successfully added sport to the portfolio of Tibor Navracsics (alongside, culture, education and youth) which proved to allow for a positive development of EU Sports Policy in the past five years. The EOC EU Office expects the new Parliament to push for the interests of the sport movement along these lines in the upcoming hearings with the new Commissioners and in the negotiations of legislative files.

Further Information

European Parliament - Press Release (27/05/2019): "Elections 2019: highest turnout in 20 years"

European Parliament - Press Release (30/04/2019): "
European elections 2019: what’s next? (infographic)"

Official Results of EP elections

Recent Posts

Find your way through the EU funding: How to finance sport related projects?

The European Parliament Research Service, an in-house think tank, has recently published its 2023 Edition – Guide to EU Funding. This document offers a detailed overview of the different funding sources grouped by area of action (e.g. Sport p.109). This is part of the EU's effort to facilitate the diffusion of financial support to regional […]

Read More
Share your views on Erasmus+

The European Commission has initiated a public feedback process regarding the primary education, training, youth, and sports program of the European Union: Erasmus+. This public consultation will feed into the assessment of the Erasmus+ programme’s overall performance. Both individuals and institutions can contribute to the assessment of Erasmus+. Give your opinion until 8 December 2023!

Read More
MEPs condemn gender-based violence on football pitches

A plenary debate on violence and discrimination after the FIFA Women's World Cup was initiated by the Greens on September 14. This was organised as a consequence to the resignation of former President of the Spanish Football Federation Luis Rubiales following his accusation of sexual assault and coercion for kissing Jennifer Hermoso on the lips […]

Read More

Related Posts

September 22, 2023
Find your way through the EU funding: How to finance sport related projects?

The European Parliament Research Service, an in-house think tank, has recently published its 2023 Edition – Guide to EU Funding. This document offers a detailed overview of the different funding sources grouped by area of action (e.g. Sport p.109). This is part of the EU's effort to facilitate the diffusion of financial support to regional […]

September 22, 2023
Share your views on Erasmus+

The European Commission has initiated a public feedback process regarding the primary education, training, youth, and sports program of the European Union: Erasmus+. This public consultation will feed into the assessment of the Erasmus+ programme’s overall performance. Both individuals and institutions can contribute to the assessment of Erasmus+. Give your opinion until 8 December 2023!

September 15, 2023
MEPs condemn gender-based violence on football pitches

A plenary debate on violence and discrimination after the FIFA Women's World Cup was initiated by the Greens on September 14. This was organised as a consequence to the resignation of former President of the Spanish Football Federation Luis Rubiales following his accusation of sexual assault and coercion for kissing Jennifer Hermoso on the lips […]

About us

The EOC EU Office is the House of European Sport, representing the European Olympic Committees (EOC), the IOC and other major sport organisations to the European institutions in Brussels.
CONTACT
crossmenu linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram