No. 165 - European Parliament elections in Germany – A commentary on election results.

Institute for Western Affairs' Bulletin (No.165/2014), Dr Piotr Kubiak, ‘European Parliament elections in Germany – A commentary on election results.’

The German news media have reported on the European Parliament election results in their country as having been “as predicted” and “within the foreseen range”. They welcomed the increased turnout and commented mainly on AfD’s success, stronger support for the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the losses sustained by the Christian Social Union (CSU) and the abysmally weak performance by the Free Democratic Party (FDP). No longer barred by the electoral threshold, seven minor parties managed to win single seats in the European Parliament. This notwithstanding, they failed to drum up additional support. Note, however, that parties claiming to be strictly pro-European won more than three quarters of the vote which shows a general approval for Germany's approach to the European Union among its public.