Publication

This paper discusses two factors that could impact Europe's parliamentary elections in 2014. In the first case, a proposed change to the election rules -- i.e., that parties must field 'top candidates' for the presidency of the European Commission -- could negatively or positively influence voter turnout, depending on the quality of the candidates, and potentially turn future elections into glorified personality contests. In the second case, Europe's economic woes could unleash a wave of negative campaigning against European integration and might bring out a slew of protest voters to the polls. The paper concludes with recommendations on how to minimize these two major risks to the 'European Project'.