On Sunday 10 November, Spain held its fourth general election in four years, after its political parties failed to reach a governing deal in the wake of April’s inconclusive polls. Spaniards elected the 14th Cortes Generales (both houses of parliament) with all 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies up for election, as well as…
Introduction: Portugal is one of the few countries in Europe yet to see the rise of an electorally significant far-right populist movement. The recent European Parliament elections confirmed this with the ruling Socialist Party (PS) winning 33% of the vote, the first time in 20 years a governing party had topped a European poll. Prime…
After five exciting days of counting, the 13 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) elected by people in Ireland have not yet been fully confirmed, and might not be for up to another month. This is because a full recount will be carried out in the Ireland South constituency, since only 327 votes separated two…
On Sunday, 28 April, Spain held its third general election in just over three years. Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister and leader of the socialist PSOE (Spanish Social Workers Party), called a snap election after his budget was rejected in February. Background Spain is a parliamentary monarchy, with King Felipe VI serving as the official…
The weekend just gone was supposed to be Brexit weekend. But the UK government and the EU agreed at a recent summit to shift the Brexit date to at least April 12, and perhaps longer depending on what happens at Westminster. Even so, it is worth reflecting on the lessons of Brexit since the 2016…
Estonians went to the polls on Sunday, 3 March to elect a new Parliament, known as the Riigikogu. The current opposition centre-right party, Reform, defied pre-election opinion polls, winning 28.8 per cent of the vote and 34 seats (just over a third of the total). Pre-election favourites, Estonia’s current governing centre-left party, Centre, came second,…
Venue: The Creative Zone, Boole Library, University College Cork, College Road, Cork Speakers: Gerry Kiely – Head of European Commission Representation in Ireland, Dr Mary C. Murphy – Lecturer in the Department of Government & Politics, UCC, Noelle O Connell
The European Council met in Salzburg, Austria for an informal meeting under the Leaders’ Agenda on 19-20 September to discuss migration, internal security, and Brexit. The informal summit was hosted by Austrian Chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, as Austria currently holds the rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU). On Wednesday, 19 September, Chancellor…