The importance of the European Parliament: Elections 2024 and the EP positioning towards foreign and security policy

The importance of the European Parliament: Elections 2024 and the EP positioning towards foreign and security policy

ANDREA ČEPOVÁ

Elections for the European Parliament take place 6-9 June 2024. These elections will already be the 10th parliamentary election since the first direct scrutiny in 1979. What are the changes from the last elections in 2019? How is the European Parliament shaping up after Brexit, when the United Kingdom officially left the Union in 2020? Is it correct to call these elections European elections? What will be the probable performance of its main political groups and will the “cordon sanitaire” be deployed again or will the EP find a different way to deal with inside opposition voices? We will also look at the (mysterious) Spitzenkandidaten process - first initiated in 2014 but a process that failed in 2019. What is its use for the 2024 elections?

In the second part, we will look closely at the role (or non-role?) of the European Parliament in the area of foreign and security policy. Does the EP hold any power at all?

What is the positioning of the European Parliament on the following hot political topics:

1. Qualified Majority Voting in foreign and defence affairs

2. Where does it stand on the enlargement process?

3. What does the majority in the European Parliament think about the idea of creating a European army?

Andrea Čepová, Deputy Secretary General of the Group of European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) in the European Parliament

Following on from her studies in international relations and diplomacy at the University of Economics in Prague, Andrea completed her doctoral studies in political science and political geography at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University (FSV UK). During her postgraduate studies, she worked for 6 months at the European University Institute in Florence. In 2004, she also successfully completed her law studies at the Université de Bourgogne in France with the title of D.E.A. In the years 2002-2004, she lectured at l'Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris. Andrea began working in the European Parliament (EP) in 2004, where she started as an expert advisor in the documentation and research section of the Parliamentary Club of the European People's Party. She specializes in parliamentary work and the legislative and decision-making processes of the EU. Through this work, she has gained experience in several EP expert committees, including: Committee on Culture (CULT); Education and Social Affairs (EMPL); Development Aid and Cooperation (DEVE); and International Trade (INTA). As well as holding managerial positions within the Group, she participates in the strategy and promotion of the priorities of her political group, Civic Democratic Party (ODS) and its Czech national delegation in the ECR Group.

Seminar will be held in English. No registration is needed.