Democracy or Demonization? The 2014 European Parliamentary Elections Considered
In partnership with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, CSIS invites you to join us for a discussion on,
Democracy or Demonization? The 2014 European Parliamentary Elections Considered
Featuring a presentation of a Pew Global Attitudes Survery by
Mr. Bruce Stokes
Director, Global Economic Attitudes Program, Pew Research
Followed by a discussion with
Mr. Olaf Boehnke
Head of the Berlin Office, European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR)
and
Mr. Antoine Ripoll
Director, European Parliament Liaison Office with the U.S. Congress
Moderated by
Ms. Heather A. Conley
Director and Senior Fellow, Europe Program, CSIS
Please join us for a conversation on the eve of the EU's critical 2014 Parliamentary Election, scheduled to take place on May 22-25, 2014. Pew Global Attitudes will release details of a recent survey of seven EU member states on public attitudes and opinions about Europe and the European Parliament. This European parliamentary election will be the first held since the onset of the European economic crisis and after nearly five years of prolonged economic hardship and austerity, the popularity of far-right and far-left extremist groups advocating against deeper EU integration has dramatically risen. With these radical groups polling ahead of established political parties in France, UK, Greece and others, these elections may stymie efforts to accelerate European integration, potentially endangering the European project altogether. What are the likely outcomes? How will the vote impact the selection of the next European Commission? What will the political repercussions be if euro-skeptic parties are very successful? Will a "grand coalition" be formed between the European People’s Party (EPP) and the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) to block these new parties? How will this new configuration impact TTIP negotiations? Our panelists will address these questions and more as they offer their analyses of the upcoming vote.
