Several days after the European elections held in Bulgaria on May 26 the uncertainties about the structure of the new European Parliament, the majority at the EP, the European Commission and the perspectives of development of the EU provoke many analyses and discussions, but the questions are still more than the answers. We need a sober assessment and analysis, free from political bias and disputes. That is why a discussion under the motto “European Elections 2019: What Comes Next?” was held at the House of Europe under the auspices of the European Parliament’s liaison office in Bulgaria. The expert on EU Policies Professor Ingrid Shikova, political scientist Vladimir Shopov and the Regional Director Southeast Europe of Kantar TNS global research and market information group Marchela Abrasheva took part at the discussions. The name of this agency may not sound very familiar, but it carries out a very important system of researches used in almost all analyses and comments dedicated to the events and the developments in the European Union – Eurobarometer.

The voter turnout was one of the accents in the discussion, because at the latest EP elections in Bulgaria it was much lower (33.27%) than the EU average (51%). In Marchela Abrasheva’s view, the low voter turnout in Bulgaria is not an expression of Euroscepticism or criticism, but is rather a diagnosis of the Bulgarian political reality and a lack of confidence that the Bulgarian voice matters in Europe:

I think that, beyond the domestic political context which influenced this low voter turnout, the quicker the Bulgarian public debate begins to emerge from the current situation and the perception that we are a small country and nothing depends on us, the more we will change this picture.

Professor Ingrid Shikova described the unwillingness of the Bulgarians to vote as a crisis of trust in politics, politicians and the personalities who are trying to earn our confidence. We witness this trend to one degree or another in the whole European Union, but the good news is that the European citizens have an instinct for self-preservation which makes them want a union that protects, Ingrid Shikova said and concluded: 

Let me tell you what is my main conclusion regarding the low voter turnout in Bulgaria. I saw that the liaison office of the European Parliament in Sofia made huge efforts to tour the country and explain why it is important to vote. The truth is that this was not enough. My message to Bulgaria in particular is that we need to learn much more about the European topics. We must continue the mission to work with the young people.

We analyzed the reasons for these results and now we need to talk about the consequences. According to political scientist Vladimir Shopov, the new European Parliament will rather look like a national Parliament. We will witness larger fragmentation not only in the number of parties, but in the fact that their relative share in the European Parliament is converging. As a result, the European Parliament will function very difficult. In Vladimir Shopov’s view, the next majority at the European Parliament will be constructed by an overwhelming coalition which will have a common programme, but we will often witness different coalitions formed on certain topics. In this sense it is very interesting to learn the name of the person who will head the next European Parliament and run this complicated coalition.

Photos: BGNES