Socialists warn EU leaders to respect parliament on Barroso issue

13.06.2009 @ 00:34 CET

The European socialists have warned EU leaders meeting next week in Brussels not to disrespect the European Parliament by formally agreeing to appoint commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso for a second term in office.

Far-right having difficulty clubbing together in EU parliament

11.06.2009 @ 08:26 CET

The ‘softer' far-right parties so far seem more interested in jumping aboard the UK Tories' proposed European Conservatives grouping than cobbling together a nationalist bloc, but it is an open question whether the attraction will be requited.

Romania's far-right MEPs to stay home

10.06.2009 @ 08:13 CET

Romania's two newly elected far-right MEPs may not take up their seats in the EU assembly, as one has been ordered by court not to leave the country and the other one wants to show "solidarity" with his colleague.

Sarkozy vows to change Europe after EU elections success

09.06.2009 @ 09:09 CET

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said his party's victory in Sunday's European elections showed that French people wanted the EU to change and has said he would come up with initiatives in that respect "in the days to come."

Ganley fails to win Irish seat for Libertas

09.06.2009 @ 08:23 CET

Irish businessman and founder of the fledgling pan-European movement Libertas Declan Ganley has failed to win a seat in the European Parliament, while the anti-treaty group as a whole failed to get a foothold across the EU.

Eurosceptics score major win in Britain

08.06.2009 @ 17:19 CET

The European elections in Britain saw the UK Independence Party, advocating withdrawal from the EU, scoring its best result ever. The party came second to only the opposition Conservatives, whose leader has pledged to organise a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty if he comes in power before its ratification has been completed in all EU states.

European elections marked by record low turnout

08.06.2009 @ 01:06 CET

The turnout in the 2009 European elections was the lowest ever since direct elections for the house started thirty years ago, with Slovakia getting the lowest score for the second time in a row. Updated 8 June 4pm

Far right make gains in 10 member states

08.06.2009 @ 02:03 CET

Across Europe, the far right is on the march, claiming increased numbers of seats in ten different member states. However, in Belgium, France and Poland, the far right saw some significant losses as well.

Centre-left losing ground in initial EU polls

07.06.2009 @ 19:42 CET

Exit polls released in some EU countries show centre-left parties losing ground and the current ruling centre-right European People's Party maintain its lead as predicted.

Bulgaria uses weather, music charts as code to get around exit poll rules

07.06.2009 @ 18:20 CET

The Bulgarian media have been using the weather, as well as music and literary charts, as a fairly obvious code to get around a law that forbids the publishing of exit polls before the end of the elections.

Commission criticises Dutch for early results publication

05.06.2009 @ 15:00 CET

The European Commission on Friday asked the Dutch authorities for clarifications regarding the publication of preliminary results in the Netherlands ahead of 7 June, when most of the bloc's nations organise the EU elections.

Netherlands embraces far right in EU elections

05.06.2009 @ 09:29 CET

The Dutch far-right Freedom Party (PVV) of Geert Wilders made the greatest leap forward in the country's EU elections on Thursday, with 16.9 percent in exit polls. But the ruling conservatives came top overall.

Majority of MEPs do not ‘tweet'

04.06.2009 @ 09:30 CET

The European elections, starting today, have not led to a boost in MEPs' use of the Internet and most of them still believe traditional forms of communication are more effective, a survey has shown. Socialist MEPs tend to lead the way when it comes to trying out new technology.

EU watches as angry UK kicks off EU elections

03.06.2009 @ 17:35 CET

The rest of Europe has been watching agog at the buildup of an almost insurrectionary feeling in the UK following revelations of MPs' abuses of the expenses system. The outpouring of anger could have significant implications for EU politics, as Britons unleash their fury via the ballot box and opposition parties call for an early general election.

Pirates to join Green or Liberal groups in EU parliament

03.06.2009 @ 17:42 CET

The civil libertarian swashbucklers of the Swedish Pirate Party are to join either the Green or the Liberal groupings in the European Parliament, the leading candidate for the party has said.

New MEPs to face tougher expenses regime

03.06.2009 @ 09:27 CET

The European Parliament returns to business in July with a flat wage rate for all 736 MEPs and an overhauled expenses system, after years of winning a reputation for being little more than a gravy train for out-of-touch deputies.

Netherlands to release EU election results early

02.06.2009 @ 17:29 CET

Despite EU officials' best efforts to maintain suspense about who has won the European elections until all European polling stations close on Sunday evening, results will begin dribbling out as early as 4 June.

Merkel and Sarkozy in joint call for 'strong Europe'

02.06.2009 @ 09:26 CET

With only a few days left to the 4-7 June European elections, Germany and France's centre-right leaders, Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Nicolas Sarkozy, have made a joint call on Europeans to head to the polls in the name of a "strong Europe."

Guide to the 2009 European Elections

02.06.2009 @ 09:23 CET

EUobserver presents a simple guide to the elections - who votes when; who is running; and, most importantly, where and when we can find out the results.

Socks and rock and roll in EU election campaign

29.05.2009 @ 14:44 CET

ELECTION COUNTDOWN - With six days to go to elections, French socialists and pan-EU party Libertas have begun using sex to attract attention, while a rock and roll controversy has erupted in the UK.

Estonian man casts first online vote in EU history

28.05.2009 @ 15:31 CET

ELECTIONS COUNTDOWN - With seven days to go to the official kick off, an Estonian man has become the first person in EU history to vote online as new technology makes its mark on the 2009 poll. But a throwback in Northern Ireland has seen canvassers threatened with a gun.

Energy policy is EU's 'big failure' of past 50 years

28.05.2009 @ 07:48 CET

Europe's energy policy in the past 50 years has been one of its biggest failures, but the bloc's increased dependency on Russia is pressuring member states to adopt a common strategy, the EU's ambassador to Washington, John Bruton, has said.

Crusading women battle for seats in EU elections

27.05.2009 @ 14:56 CET

ELECTIONS COUNTDOWN - With eight days to go, four women with strong anti-corruption credentials are battling to make it to Brussels, even as campaigning revolves around farce, scandals and populism in several EU states.

MEPs' perks under spotlight in EU elections

26.05.2009 @ 13:22 CET

ELECTIONS COUNTDOWN - With nine days to go to the elections, British tabloids are raking over MEPs' perks, Denmark hopes a referendum on royal issues may boost turnout while romantic farce and shock tactics feature in Italy and Poland.

UK Labour MEPs to publish receipts

26.05.2009 @ 09:29 CET

As the litany of dubious expense claims made by British MPs grows larger with every day, the country's Labour prime minister, Gordon Brown, has hit back with new obligations for his party's MEPs in Brussels in an attempt to regain the moral high-ground.

Church enters the fray in European elections

25.05.2009 @ 14:25 CET

ELECTIONS COUNTDOWN - With 12 days to go, the Christian church has in the UK, Austria and Poland spoken out against far-right parties in the EU elections, while in Sweden a fringe movement calling for internet freedoms is gaining ground.

Ruling elite under fire in EU elections

21.05.2009 @ 14:20 CET

ELECTIONS COUNTDOWN - With 15 days to go, ruling parties in some of the EU's biggest member states are coming under heavy fire in EU election campaigns, giving fringe eurosceptic groups a chance to grab attention.

Gloves come off in EU election campaigns

20.05.2009 @ 13:24 CET

ELECTIONS COUNTDOWN - With 16 days to go, EU election campaigning is beginning to get ugly, with legal challenges over media abuses launched in France and Italy and personal attacks on senior political figures in Austria and Spain.

Majority of Europeans not interested in European Parliament elections

19.05.2009 @ 09:33 CET

While a majority of Europeans say they like the European Union, more than half have declared no interest in the June European elections, a fresh study has shown.

EU election countdown: 18 days to go

18.05.2009 @ 13:26 CET

With EU election campaigning entering its final phase ahead of the 4 to 7 June vote, EUobserver's look around Europe shows that the British MPs' expenses scandal and internet campaigning seem set to impact the result.

New EU political group open to Libertas members

14.05.2009 @ 17:44 CET

An emerging anti-federalist political group in the European Parliament would be open to take in Libertas MEPs if Libertas stumbles in the EU elections, one of its senior members told EUobserver.

Liberals, Greens try to woo Socialists away from EU parliament right

13.05.2009 @ 09:24 CET

With Europe's centre-right parties and some socialist governments backing European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso for a second mandate, smaller factions have begun calling for a change and throwing some fresh names into the ring.

[Website Review] Libertas puts internet opportunities to use

12.05.2009 @ 09:17 CET

A clever website which utilizes the possibilities of the World Wide Web, writes Caroline Jungsand in her review of the new Libertas party's website ahead of European Parliament June elections.

Merkel in veiled attack against UK Tories ahead of elections

11.05.2009 @ 09:28 CET

German chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday made an indirect attack on Britain's main opposition Conservative Party, which is currently leading in the polls ahead of the local and European elections in the UK.

Sarkozy leaps into European Parliament campaign

06.05.2009 @ 09:28 CET

With his centre-right UMP party favoured to top French polls during European elections in June, French President Nicolas Sarkozy entered the campaign on Tuesday, vowing to "change Europe" and re-affirming his firm opposition to stretching the EU to Turkey.

EU left to back Barroso under social agenda

05.05.2009 @ 20:38 CET

Socialists in the European Parliament have said they will reject any bid by Jose Manuel Barroso to lead the European Commission for a second term unless he agrees to initiate more social policies.

France considers ban on 'anti-Zionist' voting lists

04.05.2009 @ 09:27 CET

France is examining the possibility of banning the "anti-Zionist" voting lists French comedian Dieudonne wants to present for the European Parliament elections in June, a senior advisor of president Nicolas Sarkozy has said.

Flags and slogans mark Libertas congress in Rome

01.05.2009 @ 18:00 CET

Fledgling pan-European political group Libertas held its first ever convention on Friday, attracting over 1,000 people, including Polish Nobel Prize laureate Lech Walesa, but sending a somewhat fuzzy message to "Brussels bureaucrats."

Poland eyes EU parliament top job at conservative pow-wow

29.04.2009 @ 09:28 CET

As EU centre-right leaders gather in Warsaw for a last political rally before the June elections, Poland is trying to secure the top job in the next European Parliament, a post also sought by Italy.

UK conservatives bring referendum into June election campaign

28.04.2009 @ 08:02 CET

The British Conservatives on Monday raised the political stakes ahead of the June European elections by making a referendum on the EU's Lisbon Treaty one of the central themes of their campaign.

OSCE plans mini mission for EU elections

24.04.2009 @ 07:22 CET

The Vienna-based pro-democracy club, the OSCE, plans to send teams of experts to look into preparations for EU elections but not to oversee actual voting on 4 to 7 June.

Swedish Pirate Party support soars after file-sharing verdict

21.04.2009 @ 09:21 CET

Support for the Pirate Party, a political party running in the European elections, has soared in the wake of last week's conviction of the four Swedish founders of the file-sharing site, bringing the party within spitting distance of a seat in the EU assembly.

EU elections heading for record low turnout

14.04.2009 @ 09:25 CET

With European Parliament elections fast approaching, EU citizens are less interested in the poll than ever before in a situation that could see the abstention rate across the bloc hit a record 66 percent.

Centre-left not set for major gains in EU poll

07.04.2009 @ 16:17 CET

The economic crisis is not expected to result in a major swing to the left at European election ballot boxes, new statistics predict, while the nature of the European Parliament is expected to be changed by an increase in eastern European politicians in the biggest political group. The predictions have already unleashed criticism from some parties.

African monitors keen to oversee EU election

31.03.2009 @ 17:20 CET

The Pan-African Parliament is in talks with the EU on sending monitors to the European elections in June, in a project that could see Zimbabwean politicians oversee voting in the UK.

EU Socialists disagree with early choice of commission chief

30.03.2009 @ 09:25 CET

European Socialists do not agree with proposals to confirm a new European Commission president on 15 July, saying that the European Parliament would have too little time to make up its mind.

EU to start putting up election billboards

27.03.2009 @ 06:37 CET

The European Parliament will from 1 April begin putting up billboards around Europe to try to get voters interested in the upcoming EU election.

Italian right-wing merger to shake up EU parliament politics

27.03.2009 @ 09:30 CET

The populist right-wing party of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Friday officially merges with the post-fascist Alleanza Nazionale at the founding congress of Il Popolo della Liberta, the powerful new rightist bloc that is not only set to dominate Italian politics for the foreseeable future, but will also wield considerable power in the European Parliament after the June elections.

Libertas expects to field 100 candidates for European elections

20.03.2009 @ 07:54 CET

Anti-treaty party Libertas is hoping to field at least 100 candidates for the upcoming June European elections, its chief Declan Ganley has said. However, it is having trouble putting together a manifesto.

Eight Belgian municipalities refuse to organise EU elections

19.03.2009 @ 09:28 CET

The mayors of eight Flemish municipalities in western Belgium have announced that they will not organise EU elections, in protest over the mapping of the electoral constituency, which also includes French-speaking municipalities in Brussels.

EU parliament to run glitzy campaign for June elections

17.03.2009 @ 17:36 CET

The European Parliament has launched a targetted campaign using radio, internet and TV in a bid to get people out to vote in June and to raise awareness of its impact on people's everyday lives.

Libertas leader to run in European elections

16.03.2009 @ 09:29 CET

The head of the anti-treaty Libertas group, Declan Ganley, has announced he will run for a seat in the European Parliament in the June elections. But the party, which has launched in several member states, continues to spark controversy.

Internet radicals ready themselves for European Parliament

13.03.2009 @ 09:51 CET

The Swedish Pirate Party - a group of online radicals who back free downloading of music and films from the internet - is taking advantage of a series of high profile anti-piracy cases to stage a pan-European electoral assault for 2009's European elections.

UK Tories confirm they are to leave the EPP

12.03.2009 @ 09:25 CET

The UK's Conservative Party has confirmed to the European People's Party - the main centre-right grouping in the European Parliament - that it intends to leave and form a new political grouping in the chamber.

Irish MEPs defect to liberal group

02.03.2009 @ 08:35 CET

MEPs from the ruling Irish Fianna Fail party are set to join the liberal ALDE group in the European Parliament after the upcoming EU elections.

German centre-right party calls for EU referendums

27.02.2009 @ 07:47 CET

Germany's centre-right CSU party is hoping to tap into anti-European sentiment in the influential state of Bavaria to attract votes for the June European elections.

Geert Wilders to run for European Parliament

20.02.2009 @ 09:18 CET

Geert Wilders, the Dutch leader of the xenophobic Freedom Party has announced his intention to stand for the European Parliament, calling for the reversal of Bulgaria and Romania accession and keeping Turkey out of the bloc.

Crisis has returned the conversation to the left, say EP Socialists

19.02.2009 @ 10:28 CET

Declaring the centre-left to be the big electoral winners of the fall-out of the economic crisis, Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, Danish MEP and president of the PES, said on Wednesday that free-market ideology was now dead and that the left has the answers.

Socialists warn commissioners to stay out of EU elections

11.02.2009 @ 17:15 CET

President of the Party of European Socialists, Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, has warned EU commissioners to steer clear of campaigning ahead of the June European elections.

EU far right meet for Lisbon Treaty pow-wow

04.02.2009 @ 17:14 CET

A clutch of Europe's far-right parties gathered in Vienna over the weekend to strategise their campaign against the Lisbon treaty in the coming months, with a decision not to send to delegates to Ireland in autumn.

Anti-Lisbon treaty party to get EU funds

02.02.2009 @ 09:14 CET

The new eurosceptic party Libertas is set to be signed off as a pan-European party later today entitling it to EU funds, with the group's Polish political campaign starting over the weekend.

EU conservatives launch online tv for June elections

02.02.2009 @ 09:24 CET

The centre-right European People's Party on Friday launched its own online tv channel - DialogueTv- as part of their political campaign for the June European elections.

Liberal leader pledges to end job-fixing in the EP

27.01.2009 @ 09:32 CET

The leader of the third biggest grouping in the European Parliament, MEP Graham Watson, has this month set out his stall for the post of presidency of the chamber, wanting to do away with the cosy tradition of power-sharing between the two biggest political parties in the house.

French conservatives launch EU election campaign

26.01.2009 @ 17:23 CET

The French governing centre-right UMP party on Saturday launched its European elections campaign, with the country's president, Nicolas Sarkozy, saying the party should work to "make Europe move."

EU conservatives accuse left of 'agit-prop' over economy

23.01.2009 @ 09:20 CET

The centre-right European People's Party is likely to keep its majority in the European Parliament in the June elections, as Europeans pick a safe pair of hands in the economic crisis over socialist "agit-prop," EPP secretary-general Antonio Lopez-Isturiz told EUobserver.

Most people unaware of upcoming EU elections

19.01.2009 @ 16:23 CET

The vast majority of EU citizens remain unaware that European elections will take place later this year despite a concerted effort by politicians in Brussels, a newly-published poll has shown.

Pan-Europe Libertas Party launched to fight 'anti-democratic' Brussels

11.12.2008 @ 16:00 CET

Declan Ganley, the Irish businessman behind the Libertas campaign group, one of the key organisations that defeated the Lisbon Treaty in Ireland's referendum on the text in June, has launched Libertas as the first truly pan-European political party.

Parliaments are slow in going online, study shows

25.11.2008 @ 17:46 CET

Only 10 per cent of the parliaments in the EU, Africa, Latin America, Australia and Canada use information and communication technologies (ICT) to let their citizens know about their activities, an international study shows.

Pan-European referendum 'impossible,' expert says

13.11.2008 @ 09:25 CET

A pan-European referendum on the Lisbon treaty would be "impossible" to organise because of different constitutions across the member states, an Italian expert told MEPs on Wednesday.

Liberals hope to hold head above water in next EU parliament

12.11.2008 @ 08:13 CET

The financial crisis has seen the European Liberals adopt a more moderate deregulatory stance in their party manifesto for next year's elections, with the faction aiming to retain around 100 seats in the next European Parliament.

EU assembly to slim down without Lisbon treaty

12.11.2008 @ 08:12 CET

With the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty set at the very least to be delayed if not yet abandoned, the European Parliament is likely to be elected according to the existing EU rules, a development despised by most MEPs, as it means the union's only directly elected institution will have fewer powers and members than originally projected.

Parliament to turn darker shade of green in 2009

12.11.2008 @ 08:12 CET

With the European Union having placed the fight against global warming at the heart of its agenda, green policies are likely to gain a more prominent place in the 2009 European election campaign. But the Green group in the European Parliament does not expect a huge increase in its share of seats.

The twin problems of European elections

12.11.2008 @ 08:12 CET

While the elusive European political space is unlikely to spring up between now and the June 2009 European elections, an anti-EU treaty platform and the wish of the European Commission president to hold his post for a second time may go some way to fostering some European debate.