Why EU Election Results Mattered
by John Gizzi

06/08/2009

Most of the commentary leading up to -- and after -- the Sunday election of the European Parliament was based on the idea that few people care, including the 375 million citizens from the 27 European countries who were eligible to vote.

In the seventh straight election since direct elections to the European Parliament were introduced in 1979, about 47% of eligible voters turned out throughout the continent to vote for representatives in the 736-seat legislative body. That’s slightly up from the 45.7% turnout in the last European parliament elections in 2004.

The most-watched candidate for parliament was businessman Declan Ganley, who made international headlines last year by spearheading Ireland’s rejection of the Lisbon Treaty (through which countries become member-nations of the EU). As he did when he was interviewed by HUMAN EVENTS earlier this year, the 40-year-old Ganley underscored that he was not a “Euroskeptic,â€