EU insurgency

2 January 2019 By Lisa Jucca Follow @LJucca

The global anti-elite backlash will reach the European Parliament in May. Nationalist parties will gain a bigger voice in the assembly, making decision-making messy. Sceptical voices could even infiltrate the European Commission. It’s another test for the European project.

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European Parliament elections will take place across 27 European Union member states between May 23 and May 26.

Member states and the European Parliament will also decide on the composition of a new European Commission that will take office in November. Each member state appoints one representative to the European Commission, which is tasked with drafting EU legislation. The European Commission president is selected by national leaders in the European Council, but needs the support of a majority of European Parliament members to be elected. Parliament also votes to approve the whole European Commission as a team.

The total number of seats in the parliament has been cut to 705 from 751 to reflect Britain’s departure from the European Union. The centre-right European People’s Party is currently the largest group in the parliament with 219 seats, followed by the socialists with 187 seats. Eurosceptic parties are split between three groups – the European Conservatives and Reformists group, the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy group and the Europe of Nations and Freedom group. They have 150 seats between them.

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