Panel discussion - 'The 2024 European Parliament election: what’s at stake?'
On Wednesday 24 April 2024, the European Integration cluster at the Institute of Political Science and the Centre for the Study of Political Parties and Representation hosted a panel on the topic of 'The 2024 European Parliament election: what’s at stake?'
Five faculty members at the Institute of Political Science shared their expertise with around 75 Leiden University students and researchers. Opening the discussion, Associate Professor Nikoleta Yordanova outlined the responsiveness of the European Parliament to voters and shared data on voting intentions and voters’ trust in the European Parliament. Senior Assistant Professor Adina Akbik then explained and evaluated the famous (or infamous) 'Spitzenkandidaten' system, where party groupings nominate their preferred candidate for European Commission President. Following these more general explanations about how European Parliamentary elections work, Assistant Professors Christina Toenshoff and Stefan Cetkovic outlined what's at stake regarding specific policy areas: the European Green Deal and Energy Policy. Lastly, Senior Assistant Professor Billy Tsagkroni discussed the recent farmers’ protests and their impact on populist right parties.
More than half an hour was reserved for questions from the audience, which ranged from questions on procedures and institutions ('Who holds the Commission accountable? And how are EP campaigns financed?') to policy-specific questions such as 'Which climate policy proposals can I vote for in the elections?'
Audience members, panelists and organisers were delighted with the panel discussion and look forward to future Political Science European Integration cluster events.