Declining turnout is not exclusive to the European Parliament

Much ado in the media these last few days about the likely level of turnout in the European elections, with the inevitible Eurosceptic claim that a low turnout lessens the legitimacy of the parliament.

I think it is important to distinguish two aspects: the level of turnout and the trend.

It is perfectly normal that European elections, like local elections, have a lower turnout than national elections. After all, less is at stake, as the EU's responsibilties are far smaller than those of national parliaments. That being said, European Parliament elections have a higher turnout than most mid-term Congress elections in the United States.

As regards the trend, the turnout has declined from 63% in 1979 to 46% in 2004 – a fall of about 17% in a quarter century (though accentuated by the accession of the eastern European countries, several of whom have an extraordinary low turnout in all elections). It is this decline that is siezed on by Eurosceptics.

However, this decline is not peculiar to the European Parliament. There has been a similar decline in national parliamentary elections in many countries over the corresponding period. For example, turnout declined by over 16% in Germany from 1972 to 2005, 27% in France between 1973 to 2007, 19% in Portugal from 1979 to 2005 and almost 20% in the UK between 1974 and 2005.

In other words it is a challenge for democracy at all levels, not a phenomenen particular to the European Parliament.