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This past weekend, European Union nations experienced eventful elections for the Europe Parliament that will cause a stir on future economic reforms. This election term saw a very aggressive battle between two opposing forces – pro-European Union parties supporting strong central powers, and anti-European Union parties (also known as Eurosceptics), who are nationalists that want to decrease central powers of the union. The elections were forecasted to see anti-European forces make major gains and double their seats in parliament as a result of increasing unrest caused by unfavorable union wide measures.
Elections in Italy and Germany resulted in significant wins for pro-European Union parties. The strong showing of these two countries helped see a record high daily-increase in Italian shares by three percent, German index shares by one percent, and even an increased currency demand in Greece rising up from a three month low.
Countries in the European Union experiencing strong economic performances that are the most influential, such as Germany, are bigger proponents of strong European powers. Also, countries in the union experiencing tough economic hardships like Italy are keen on a unified Europe, since other union members graciously provide significant aid to help struggling countries. It makes sense that these particular countries on opposite ends of the spectrum support strong central powers, as it helps balance out the European Union as a whole. On the flip side, Greece was the only exception of this trend during the elections, as results yielded gains in anti-European parties.
Following Greece, countries including the U.K., France and Denmark saw voters elect in favor of anti-European parties. The U.K. and France have been experiencing pressure to help union members in-need, on top of their own skeptical economic performances. The results of the election exemplifies the eagerness of their citizens to return to a nationalistic mindset.
The biggest economic impact these elections could have is on unified reform direction and responsiveness of the European Union. With an increase in anti-European presence, countries will want more control of their individual economy, which will inevitably conflict with union wide economic interests. Regardless, pro-European parties still control the majority and extreme changes to union wide measures will remain a challenge for anti-Europeans.
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