European elections

2026 is shaping up to be an extraordinary electoral year in Europe and for the European Greens. Opinion polls indicate that national parliamentary elections could reshape governments in countries ranging from Denmark and Latvia to Slovenia. The most consequential contest may take place in Hungary, where a potential defeat of long-time right-wing leader Viktor Orbán could result in a more assertive European Union. At the regional level, the Greens face a key test in Baden-Württemberg, where they have led the state government for more than a decade. 

For the Hlas party, whose candidates won big in elections to the national legislature and the presidency in Slovakia, harsh anti-EU rhetoric and disinformation was a new tactic in the elections to the EP –  the wrong one, as it turned out.

The European election brought dissapointment to almost everyone in Athens, except to the far Right and the far Left. Yet, the most striking result was the collapse of the vote for the governing New Democracy – 10% of the registered electorate, one million people, abandoned Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ party in one year. What are the reasons for that? And why did the parties of the opposition not do better? An analysis by Pavlos Eleftheriadis, Professor of Legal Studies at NYU Abu Dhabi and a Senior Research Fellow at Mansfield College Oxford.

Poland is in the midst of a political marathon, having already experienced groundbreaking parliamentary and local elections. Former Prime Minister Donald Tusk's coalition has returned to power, but the nation remains politically divided. The upcoming EU elections, featuring high-ranking ministers, set the stage to the presidential elections in 2025.

The 2024 EP elections are marked by a context much less favourable to the environmentalist agenda. In 2019, the European elections were held in the midst of massive global climate strikes and marches, and the so-called Green Wave reflected those concerns. What is the situation today? Is there a vision of peri-urban ecology and what is the impact of EU  policies on these areas with specific needs?

The chances of a conservative majority after the European elections are slim, but the normalisation of radical-right forces is a wake-up call for progressives.

The 2024 European elections will take place from June 6 to 9 in the shadow of multiple crises. Populist and radical right-wing forces could benefit from this. Projections predict a shift to the right in the next European Parliament. These forces seek to renationalize European politics and weaken the EU‘s ability to act together. Specifically, the European Green Deal and support for Ukraine could be curbed. The EU would be weakened at a time when it has to solve major challenges for the future. In this context, the sixth edition of the long-term study Actually European!? examines how the German population views the European elections and what they expect from their government at the EU level.

With the European elections just around the corner and the subsequent appointment of a new European Commission, the next phase of the European transition to climate neutrality is about to begin. This article touches upon some key topics and challenges that lie ahead in the near future to ensure an effective implementation of the European Green Deal (EGD).

The 24th Foreign Policy Conference of the Heinrich Böll Foundation focusses on current debates around the future of the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy with special emphasis on the outlook for a post-national European Security Order, including an EU Army and an independent EU nuclear deterrent. Another focus of the Expert conference is the search for a new balance in transatlantic burden sharing in three crisis regions: the Western Balkans, the Indo-Pacific and Ukraine. How much US engagement is still needed, and which role can Europe play for the security of these regions?

With right-authoritarian forces on the one hand and liberal-progressive ones on the other, elections in 2024 will be fought in several major democracies, including in the European Union. Focussing on the latter, this article explores the electoral chances of the European Green Party (EGP) members, an umbrella organization for environmentalist-progressive forces.

Five years after the “Green wave” reached the EU Parliament, fear and division seem to dominate political narratives ahead of this June’s EU elections. Instead of accepting the Right’s talking points, progressives should stick to their core values, embracing hope as the key to electoral success in troubled times.

This article chronicles how European Green Party (EGP) members performed in the 213 national, regional and major local elections in Europe in 2023. While EGP members were voted out of government in some of their strongholds, they maintained or increased their fringe influence through arrangements with larger parties in Eastern and Southern Europe.

This article reflects on the potential links between the CAP and the proposal for a European Framework for Sustainable Food Systems (SFS). This integration is challenging, but possible. Constructive interdisciplinary dialogue and pro-active cooperation at multiple-level of governance should not be replaced by time wasting, biased strategic dialogues, as is now proposed. The upcoming European elections and future of food and farming cannot inherit this logic of postponing.