The objective of this international symposium, is to discuss and analyse if the social and economic referents of Europeans have deeply changed since 2004 and if the European public space, a notion that the referendums on the European constitution and the Treaty of Lisbon enshrines, already exists in the social representations of Europeans. More specifically, do aspects of the EU elections such as the turnout, the emergence of new parties and the dynamics of the results of mainstream parties reflect convergences amongst Member states ? Or are national party systems and electoral systems in force still largely determine the political socialization of citizens in Europe? A dozen national cases will be analysed. The symposium will also address topics such a modes of collective action, the conditions of democratic pluralism and the socio-economic and political expectations of the Europeans vis-à-vis the EU.

Affiche Colloque élections européennes décembre 2009

Programme élections européennes décembre 2009

Comité scientifique: Patrick Dumont (Université du Luxembourg), Philippe Poirier (Université du Luxembourg), Jean-Michel de Waele (Université Libre de Bruxelles), Pascal Delwit (Université Libre de Bruxelles), Fabienne Greffet (Université de Nancy), Léonard Matala Tala (Université de Nancy)

Coordination: Philippe Poirier

Les actes du colloque seront publiés aux éditions de l’Université Libre de Bruxelles au printemps 2010. En 2004, suite à un premier colloque avec l’Université Libre de Bruxelles, il avait été déjà édité un premier ouvrage Parlement puissant, électeurs absents ? Les élections européennes de juin 2004.

While a vast literature has grown up surrounding European elections, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the framing of issues surrounding the project of European integration itself during EP election campaigns.  In particular, the dominance of the ‘second order’ model in studies of EP elections, while illuminating underlying questions of partisan competition, has nonetheless also tended to obscure the extent to which such elections offer singularly privileged occasions for observing the patterns of national European discourses seeking both to contest and to legitimate the wider project of European integration.  Addressing this gap, the present workshop brings together leading experts on a representative sample of EU member states to examine this year’s EP election campaign. Each national paper will survey the ‘European discourses’ deployed by both ‘mainstream’ and ‘Eurosceptic’ parties during the campaign, as well as situating immediate events relative to the longer-term evolution of national European debates. This, in turn, will permit a broader, comparative ‘mapping’ exercise – seeking to delimit both the geographical and ideological contours of differing representations (and contestations) of European integration.

If you are interested in attending, please contact Dr. Elisabeth Schmitt at the Academy (schmitt@eao-otzenhausen.de ).  The conference fee, including overnight accommodation at the Academy on the night of 15 October, is €70 (full rate) or €30 (student rate). Questions about the academic programme may be directed to either of the conference organisers, Prof. Robert Harmsen (robert.harmsen@uni.lu) or Prof. Joachim Schild (schild@uni-trier.de).

Conference Programme