European Elections 2014: towards ‘a’ European far right?

Abstract: The prospect of a rise by the far right parties in the upcoming European elections on May 2014 is feeding debate in the media and leading to fears that they may impede decisions within the Parliament and as a result, the functioning of the European Union.

The aim of this paper is to assess the credibility of this scenario. To do this the ideological coherence of this political 'family' will be analysed in order to gain a better understanding of the possibilities of the electoral progress of these parties in the European Parliament and the creation of a parliamentary group which would enable them to have greater influence over debates and defend their ideas more effectively. The hypothesis is that even though the rise to power of nationalist far right parties in these European elections is probable we should not overestimate their effect on the political balance of power in the future European Parliament.

ESO: Background information: European Parliament: Election, May 2014 http://www.europeansources.info/record/european-parliament-election-may-2014/

ESO: Background information: Far-right parties join Tories in rejecting common EU candidate http://www.europeansources.info/record/far-right-parties-join-tories-in-rejecting-common-eu-candidate/

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