• Korean Journal of Legislative Studies
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.35-67
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• 2019

This study aims to analyze and evaluate the outcomes of the far-right parties in the 2019 European Parliament (hereinafter EP) elections. To this end, this study refrains from the conventional method of analyzing the number of seats of the political group(s) classified as far-right in the EP. Instead, the study takes a method based on the party family classification by summing up the number of the EP members who have been elected to the far-right party within individual member states. There are two reasons for the analysis of EP election results based on this far-right party family. Firstly, some of the far-right members of the EP do not join the political group(s) classified as far-right, and secondly, some of the political group(s) classified as far-right tends to be inhomogeneous. In this vein, this study attempts to analyze the outcomes of the far-right party in the 2019 EP elections based on the classification of the far-right party family. As a result, this study shows that the assessment of the European major press based on the number of seats of the political group(s) classified as far-right in the EP was inconsistent with the actual political landscape. According to the analysis of election results based on the classification of the far-right party family, the number of seats secured by the far-right parties in the 2019 EP elections corresponded to or significantly exceeded the results of previous polls. In addition, this is a significant increase in the seats of the far-right parties compared to the 2014 EP elections, and it is reasonable to affirm that the far-right parties have made great strides in the 2019 EP elections.

• Korean Journal of Legislative Studies
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.5-33
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• 2019

This study aims to explore the implications of the 2019 European Parliament elections. Existing studies show that European elections serve as secondary elections dominated by domestic issues. However, the 2019 European elections have highlighted pan-European issues such as the Brexit negotiations and the rise of far-right populism, with voter turnout also rising sharply to 50.62%, which is the highest record since the 2000s. There was also a significant change in the number of parliamentary seats held by each political group. First, the European People's Party(EPP) and the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats(S&D), which had hitherto led the European Parliament, failed to achieve a majority. Second, the number of seats won by Renew Europe, a new liberal-centrist group, was considerably high. Third, the far-right groups organized a full-fledged political force by rallying around the Identity and Democracy(ID) group. The rise of liberal-centrism can be explained as a reaction to the popularity of anti-European populism. Renew Europe's emphasis on open-market competition has created a different issue, especially since the center-left and center-right groups have stressed on the need for state intervention in employment, welfare, security and immigration control. Along with far-right populism, liberal centrism has also reshuffled Europe's political cleavage, and the conflict between 'liberalism' and 'protectionism' has become more evident in the European Parliament.