Living in the EU : European elections and democracy

(1)

The concept of participation lies at the heart of the European project, however recent years have seen a decrease in electoral turnout

in contrast to the broader feelings of EU citizens of being part of a wider project promoting prosperity, social cohesion, unity and

tolerance. Participation differs among different groups, and among the most explored is the gender gap in political participation, even

though progress has been achieved over the years. Nowadays many European citizens show an increasing attachment to the EU, and

its democracy, despite the perception of corruption and the challenges to press freedom affecting Member States to different degrees.

Living in the EU: European Elections and Democracy

Trends in turnout at national and EP elections

Parliamentary elec

_{tions in EU Member States}

European Parlia

_ment

Turnout at EP elections

1979

1984

1989

1994

1999

2004

2009

2014

2019

60%

40%

20%

0%

1984

1994

2004

2014

80%

100%

Turnout at EP elections

(2014)

More than 56.3%

45.4% - 56.3%

35.4% - 45.3%

25.2% - 35.3%

Less than 25.2%

42.6%

turnout in European elections

Note: compulsory voting in Belgium, Cyprus,

Greece and Luxembourg (and Bulgaria from 2019)

89.6% 13.0% 56.3% 45.4% 35.4% 25.2%

Women in EP and national parliaments

2019

2009

1999

1989

1979

10%

20%

30%

40%

16.6%

36.5%

10.3%

28.6%

European Parliament

Member States’

national parliaments

The line for national parliaments up to 1996 is illustrative only, based on data available for a limited number of Member States.

Turnout is calculated as the total number of votes as a percentage of the total number of registered voters. All national elections taking place in the same year are totalled to generate an annual EU-wide percentage.

Women MEPs by Member State

(as of 31 March 2019)

FI

76.9%

HR

54.5%

IE

54.5%

MT

50.0%

SE

50.0%

ES

48.1%

FR

43.2%

UK

39.7%

AT

38.9%

NL

38.5%

IT

38.4%

LV

37.5%

SI

37.5%

EU28

36.5%

DE

36.5%

BE

33.3%

LU

33.3%

DK

30.8%

SK

30.8%

PT

28.6%

RO

28.1%

PL

25.5%

CZ

23.8%

EL

23.8%

HU

19.0%

LT

18.2%

BG

17.6%

CY

16.7%

EE

16.7%

EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service EUI | European University Institute

Authors: Giulio Sabbati, Members’ Research Service, EPRS

Caterina Francesca Guidi, GlobalStat, EUI

PE 635.565 - May 2019

AT A GLANCE

(2)

Do Europeans feel themselves citizens of the EU?

Satisfaction of Europeans with the way democracy

works in the EU

UK

SE

FI

SK

SI

RO

PT

PL

AT

NL

MT

HU

LU

_LT

LV

CY

IT

HR

FR

ES

EL

IE

EE

DE

DK

CZ

BG

BE

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

2018

2010

Missing data: Croatia, 2010

Note: the Press Freedom Index shows the degree of freedom available to journalists in 180 countries worldwide. It is compiled based on seven indicators: pluralism, media independence, environment and self-censorship, legislative framework, transparency, infrastructure and abuses. It uses a scale between 0 and 100. The lower the value of the index, the higher the level of freedom; and vice versa a high value means a difficult situation in terms of press freedom. The index divides countries into five groups based on their score: Good situation (0-15), Satisfactory (15-25), Problematic (25-35), Difficult (35-55) and Very serious (55-100). As the score ‘Very serious’ is not attributed to any EU Member State, it is not represented in the graphic.

Corruption Perceptions Index

(2018 index)

EU citizens less satisfied

over the years

EU citizens more satisfied

over the years

EU average:

2007: 51.3%

2018: 57.0%

FI NL SE AT LU PT UK DK IE DE CZ MT FR BE EE CY LV HU BG HR PL IT SK LT RO SI ES EL

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0 2007

2018

Press Freedom Index

(2018 index)

Good

Satisfactory

Problematic

Difficult

Kg of CO2 equivalent per person

Note: the index, which ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels

of public sector corruption, according to experts and business people, uses a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean. More than two-thirds of countries worldwide score below 50 on the 2018 CPI, with an average score of just 43. EU countries’ scores rank between 42 and 88 with an average score of 64.7. Between 2012 and 2018, nine Member States decreased their score.

DK

FI

SE

NL

LU

DE

UK

AT

BE

EE

IE

FR

PT

PL

SI

CY

CZ

LT

LV

ES

MT

IT

SK

HR

RO

HU

EL

BG

1

3

8

9

11

14

17

18

21

30

36

38

41

51

53

57

60

61

64

67

77

88

85

82

81

80

76

75

73

72

64

60

59

58

54

52

50

48

47

46

45

42 Country

2018 Rank

(out of 180 countries)

Index

2012

2018

2018 EU average:

64.7 Variation

Notes

GlobalStat is a project developed by the European University Institute’s Global Governance Programme (Italy) and the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation (Portugal).

Data sources for page 1: Trends in turnout at national and EP elections data are from IDEA; Women in EP and national parliaments from EP and IPU, Turnout at EP elections data are from IDEA; Women MEPs by Member State data are from EP. Data sources for page 2: Feeling citizens of the EU data are extrapolated from Standard Eurobarometer 73 (2010) and Standard Eurobarometer 90 (2018), Satisfaction of the European Democracy data are extrapolated from Standard Eurobarometer 68 (2007) and Standard Eurobarometer 89 (2018). CPI is from Transparency International (2018 Index) and Press Freedom Index is from Reporters Without Borders (2018 Index). Extraction date: data were extracted in March 2019.

This ‘At a glance’ note is part of a series ‘Living in the EU’. The other issues in the series cover Climate Change and Energy, Demography, Asylum and Migration, the Economy, and Education and Health.

This document is prepared for, and addressed to, the Members and staff of the European Parliament as background material to assist them in their parliamentary work.

The content of the document is the sole responsibility of its author(s) and any opinions expressed herein should not be taken to represent an official position of the

Parliament. Reproduction and translation for non-commercial purposes are authorised, provided the source is acknowledged and the European Parliament is given

[email protected] (mail) http://www.eprs.ep.parl.union.eu (intranet) http://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank (internet) http://epthinktank.eu (blog)

[email protected](mail) http://www.globalstat.eu (internet)

Living in the EU: European Elections and Democracy

EPRS and GlobalStat