Romanenko Sergey Alexandrovich – ScD in History, Head of Sector, Department of Europe and America, INION RAN
The article is a conceptual and methodological introduction to the next issue of the journal «Current Problems of Europe» dedicated to the preparation, conduct, results and significance of elections to the European Parliament (EP), held on June 6–9, 2024, in the countries of the European Union, including the states of the Central-Eastern and South-Eastern Europe (CESEE). The author considers the role of the European Parliament in the political development of the EU, including the states of the CESEE region, compares the features and results of the European Parliament’s activity on a national and regional scale, and also compares the significance of these elections for some countries of Western Europe and the states of the CESEE region. Based on the comparison of statistical data related to the elections to the European Parliament, the specifics of political trends and processes in different EU member states are revealed – firstly, in the CESEE countries as a whole in comparison with some most significant for this region Western European states (Germany, Austria, as well as France); secondly, in the post-socialist countries of Eastern Europe in comparison with the Baltic States; thirdly, in the post-socialist countries of South-Eastern Europe in comparison with Greece and Cyprus. The author provides a typological analysis of the main political trends and processes manifested in the results of the European Parliament elections in different EU Member states; shows the interrelation of political, ideological and psychological parameters in the programmes of parties with different positions on the theory and practice of the EU functioning and on the EU potential in the field of domestic and foreign policy – Eurosceptics (Europessimists), Europragmatists and Eurooptimists. The article offers a comparative characterisation of the outcomes of the 2019 and 2024 EP elections; ponders the distribution of votes cast for parties, coalitions and movements as well as for individual politicians in parliamentary, presidential and local elections held shortly before or shortly after the 2024 EP elections. The study also examines the correlation between the role of the executive and representative institutions on a national and pan-European scale. The analysis shows that elections to the European Parliament can be considered a kind of «barometer» of the political climate, although many voters in the CESEE countries often view European elections in isolation from their real impact not only on domestic politics, but also on the position of their country in the decision-making process within the EU and in defence of national interests or the interests and values of their social or ethnic groups (this state of affairs is indirectly evidenced by the fact that in all countries of the region, with the exception of Hungary and Romania, the level of electoral activity does not exceed 50%). The results of the elections to the European Parliament provide an opportunity to assess the correlation between the pan-European vision of national problems in the CESEE region and the national vision of pan-European problems, and ultimately to raise the question of whether pan-European identity is a reality existing within the EU or an artificial construct.
European Union, European Parliament, new Eastern Europe, Central-Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, political system, political regime, political institutions, parties, fractions, Eurosceptics (Europessimists), Europragmatists, Eurooptimists, ideology, ide
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