“Ten Elections. A history of the European Parliament at the ballot box (1979-2024)” edited by Michele Fiorillo

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Both the Librorum and Annual Seminar will be broadcasted live via this webpage. Interpretation will be available in English, French, German, Spanish and Italian.

The FMA is pleased to invite you to its upcoming Librorum event, which will take place on 10 December 2025, from 10:00 to 11:00 (CET), at the European Parliament in Brussels and online.

The event will feature the presentation of the book “Ten Elections. A History of the European Parliament at the Ballot Box (1979–2024)”, edited by Michele Fiorillo, political philosopher and democratic theorist. The volume brings together insights and reflections from a wide range of current and former Members of the European Parliament as well as distinguished experts in European politics, including:

• Enrique Barón Crespo, Former MEP
• Brando Benifei, MEP
• Stefano Castagnoli, Institute of Federalist Studies Altiero Spinelli
• Richard Corbett, Former MEP
• Alfredo De Feo, Scientific Director, European College of Parma
• Pier Virgilio Dastoli, European Movement
• Domènec Devesa, MEP
• Martí Grau, Jean Monnet House
• Jordi Guixé, University of Barcelona / European Observatory on Memories (EUROM)
• Danuta Hübner, MEP
• Christine Manigand, Université Paris 3
• Ines Nauwelaers, Jean Monnet House
• Sophia Russack, CEPS
• Christelle Savall, President of JEF Europe
• Michael Shackleton, Lecturer and EU affairs author
• Ilke Toygür, Global Policy Center
• Luisa Trumellini, Union of European Federalists (UEF)
• Nadine Vasseur, Journalist and Writer

This Librorum event offers a unique opportunity to reflect on the history and development of European Parliament elections, through a collective work that combines political analysis with institutional experience.

Summary:

Ten Elections. A history of the European Parliament at the ballot box (1979-2024) is the third of a series of commemorative publications promoted by the Jean Monnet House of the European Parliament and the European Observatory on Memories of the University of Barcelona’s Solidarity Foundation in collaboration with the Istituto di Studi Federalisti Altiero Spinelli and with the support of the programme Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV) of the European Commission.

The European Parliament elections of 2024 marked the tenth occasion for Europeans to directly elect their representatives at a supranational level. Since 1979, universal suffrage has enabled citizens to be at the heart of the decisions that affect their lives at the European level. This book surveys these ten formative milestones, their roots, and their implications for the future. The contributors, some of them firsthand actors or witnesses of the events, provide a compelling overview of the elections, covering a wide range of perspectives. Through both scholarly and hands-on approaches, the authors consider the ten European elections in their historical context, from the first steps towards a fully democratic Parliament to the gradual widening of its powers, with meaningful reflections on the future prospects of European democracy.

You can read the entire book here.

Following the Librorum event, the FMA Annual Seminar will take place from 11.00 to 13.00.

These events are part of the FMA End of Year Greetings from 9-10 December 2025. The Annual Cocktail and Dinner on 9 December will open this greetings.