The 2009 Elections to the European Parliament looks at the elections in each of the 27 member states of the newly enlarged European Union, and is an assessment of the European Parliament in 2004-2009. It asks whether the elections were irrelevant and inconsequential. Thirty years after the first Euro elections in 1979, what efforts were made to mobilize the electorate? Was the European Commission's Communicating Europe strategy, which included blogs, targeting young voters using digital media, and MEPs on Europarl TV, a waste of time? Did the Dutch and French negative referendums on a new EU constitution affect the results? The contributors to this volume examine the Euro elections in each member state, criticising some commonly held assumptions. Common themes and the overall results are analyzed, along with the role of the European Parliament's party groups, and that of the transnational party federations
PART I: INTRODUCTION
The European Parliament 2004-2009; R.Corbett
Irrelevant and Obsolete: The European Parliament and Voters in Perspective; J.Lodge
The 2009 European Parliamentary Elections and the Party Groups; S.Lightfoot
PART II: COUNTRY CASE REVIEWS
Austria; D.Nagel
Belgium; A.Justaert
Bulgaria; A.Dobreva
Cyprus; C.Christophorou
Czech Republic; L.Rovná
Denmark; F.J.Christiansen & J.Christensen
Estonia; T.Mayer
Finland; T.Raunio
France; P.Malière
Germany; C.Schweiger
Greece; K.Sarikakis
Hungary; A.L.Pap & B.Horvathy
Ireland; E.Moxon-Browne
Italy; D.Viola
Latvia; D.Auers
Lithuania; S.Braghiroli
Luxembourg; D.Hearl
Malta; H.Frendo
The Netherlands; A.Sprokerreef
Poland; A.Szczerbiak
Portgual; J.M.Magone
Romania; E.Maxfield
Slovakia; L.Rovná
Slovenia; A.Krasovec & D.Lajh
Spain; F.S.Pérez
Sweden; M.Rosén & A.Sannerstedt
The United Kingdom; D.Mather
PART III: CONCLUSION
Framing and Salience of Issues in the 2009 European Elections; F.S.Pérez & J.Lodge
Results