Election fever has replaced swine flu in the newspaper headlines as the UK speculates on the future of its national government while gearing up to vote in local government polls.

But what of the European Parliament (EP) elections, taking place in the UK and the other 26 European Union member states this Thursday (4 June 2009)?

Turnout for elections to the European Parliament is traditionally low, with parties resorting to all sorts of stunts to encourage a seemingly indifferent electorate out to vote. On the other hand, some of those who are involved in EU politics appear more interested in what divides us rather than what unites the Union.

How do the European elections affect our everyday lives, why are they important and what can they tell us about the role of politics in a Europe where credit crunch-induced self-interest and public scepticism about politics are now rife?

Here, University of Sussex politics expert Professor Paul Taggart, who conducts research with the University’s Sussex European Institute, responds to questions and provides some basic facts about Thursday’s European poll.

Q What are the key issues dominating these elections?

A Nearly all the elections across the EU will be dominated by domestic political issues and for many electors the EP elections will be a way to pass judgement on the government of their country - acting as what the US has as midterm elections.

It is very likely that dissatisfaction with the state of the European economy will play a role in nearly all member states’ polls and we will see this in the form of votes against the major parties in government and for smaller protest parties.

But this works in very different ways. In Italy the discussion is over the colourful private life of the Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and the fact that his party has fielded a number of very young and beautiful MEP candidates, while in Poland, there is a discussion about which party will best represent Polish interests in the EU.

The UK is not the only country where the issue of sleaze and corruption are playing out in the elections, as Belgium has seen one politician forced to resign after being revealed to have been paid money secretly for consultancy work and another for channelling money to an organisation run by his half-brother.

Q In the wake of the MPs’ expenses scandal, could particularly disastrous results for Labour in the EU elections bring about the downfall of the UK Government?

A It would be unlikely to bring down the Government , but a really bad result will no doubt mean some pretty swift reshuffling of the deckchairs after the election, with a reshuffle of the Cabinet. But the last European Parliament election was at the height of the Iraq war controversy and Labour did extremely poorly then too.

Q Do European elections give us any indication as to how people might vote in a UK General Election?

A They do give us an indication of the general trend, especially in terms of how popular the incumbent government is, but they tend to exaggerate the degree to which the electorate is likely to vote for more marginal parties. In a sense they give us a much better indication of who people don’t want to vote for.

Q Why do the European elections matter? What's it got to do with me?

A Members of the European Parliament can play a substantial role in shaping what comes out of the EU and so voting for them may change the direction of some policies. They also play a role in controlling the actions of the Commission. In the past, the European Parliament has played an important role in regulatory issues such as the way chemicals are controlled, climate change, immigration and cross-border  policing. The Parliament’s most direct impact comes through its ability to vote for or against new countries joining the EU.

Q What is it that Eurosceptics don't like about the EU?

A Across Europe different groups oppose their country's membership of the EU for diametrically opposed reasons. For some the EU is too liberal economically, while for others it is too socialist. For some, on the far right, the EU is too inclusive in terms of allowing migration into and across Europe, while for others the EU is too exclusive and serves only one part of the world at the expense of other (poorer) parts of the world. Like the EU itself, opposition to the EU is multi-faceted.

Q Do "issue groups" (eg Greens, Eurosceptics, ultra right-wing or left-wing parties) fare better in European elections?

A Smaller protest parties will benefit from the elections but theydon’t do so well in subsequent national elections. In the UK, this means that UKIP, the Greens and the BNP could do well.

Q If enough people voted for them in the EU elections, would UKIP get the UK out of the EU?

A No. UKIP would have to win the UK General Election and form a Government to do that.

Q What are the European elections for, then?

A The 27 member states of the European Union are all holding elections for membership of the European Parliament, which will last for five years. These Members of the European Parliament will scrutinise legislation and sometimes work with other EU institutions to draft EU-wide policies.

Q What is the European Parliament for?

A The Parliament is there to give a direct link between citizens and the EU. The European Parliament is not really a parliament in the sense that we would normally understand it. It is more like one chamber of a law-making body. It has to operate either in conjunction with the European Commission (the body responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding EU treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union) or, as is more often the case, with the Council of the European Union (which is made up from governments of the members of the EU).

Q How many people will be voting across Europe? How many parties are involved and what do they represent?

A About 375 million voters have the chance to vote on Thursday. Hundreds of parties are clamouring for their votes, but many people will not vote on the day.  Turnout was about 45 per cent in the last election and overall there has been a decline in the average turnout since direct elections were first introduced in 1979.

A Why is there such a poor turnout in European elections?

Q Voting is low in European Parliamentary elections because citizens do not have a strong sense of what they are voting for - the EP is, for all but the Belgians, a long way away and part of a structure - the EU - that is hard to understand. Voting in the EP elections does not elect a government, so for many citizens, it is more important to vote in domestic elections.

 Q What are the main UK political parties' stands on Europe?

A Labour has taken a relatively supportive position of European integration but has not wanted to play this up as a big issue. The Conservatives have similarly been very keen to not talk about the EU as it has caused them profound problems in the past and they remain one of the most Eurosceptic mainstream parties across all of Europe. The Liberal Democrats are the most supportive party of European integration.

Notes for Editors

Paul Taggart is Professor of Politics in the Sussex European Institute and Jean Monnet Chair, He is former Editor of the journal Politics and co-Convenor (with Professor Aleks Szczerbiak) of the European Referendums, Elections and Parties Network (EPERN). He has eben a visiting scholar at the Universities of Gothenberg and Sarajevo and is a visiting scholar at the Centre for German and European Studies at Georgetown University.

For further information, interviews, analysis etc, contact the University of Sussex Press office