Decreasing turnout rates at the European Parliament elections: why?

DIIS Report by Mette Buskjær Christensen on Danish political parties and candidate selection

On 7 June 2009, Denmark will elect 13 representatives to the seventh European Parliament (EP). The Danish parties have during 2008 been recruiting and selecting candidates in order to establish their electoral list before elections.

The report describes and analyses the procedures applied by Danish political parties when selecting candidates and establishing their electoral lists for EP elections 2009. Furthermore, the report examines Danish political party cooperation at the European level with both European party federations and political groups in the EP. It is important to be aware of the nature of the candidate selection process and the electoral system in order to understand the relationship between the MEPs and the voters and to address the problem of decreasing turnout rates at EP elections.