European elections: Who wins?

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From 6 to 9 June, Europeans across the continent took to the polls to elect the European Parliament members 2024-2029. Voter turnout across Europe has increased over time, with 51.06% of the 360 million eligible voters taking part in 2024, stable compared to the 2019 elections but up from 42.16% in 2014 – while participation varies significantly in the various Member States (find the detailed results here). 

2019 numbers are not entirely comparable with 2024, as the United Kingdom did not take part in this year’s elections following its withdrawal from the EU. Yet it appears that the 2024 European Parliament elections have initiated significant shifts in the EU political landscape.

Looking at the percentages of seats, right-wing populist and nationalist parties made substantial gains, reflecting a broader trend across Europe. Parties like France’s National Rally and Italy’s Brothers of Italy performed particularly strongly. Across the EU, Renew Europe, the Greens/EFA and to a lesser extent the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), saw reduced support compared to previous elections.

The fragmented nature of the new European Parliament means that forming stable coalitions will be challenging, requiring complex alliances and negotiations to pass legislation at EU level, in the coming years.

These election results are also expected to influence the selection of the next European Commission President and other key leadership positions within the EU over the next few months, while potentially shifting the overall European policy focus on issues like immigration and defence.

What does this mean for European filmmakers?

In a political landscape where right-wing populist and nationalist parties are actively involved in government, the future of cultural institutions, state funding, Public Service Broadcasting and cultural policies at large becomes unclear. In an increasing number of Member States, controlling media and funding of the arts is part of political programmes and policies. This presents an undeniable threat to freedom of expression, which is an essential aspect of European cultures.

Over the last few years, FERA has observed a rise in the number of such cases, from Poland (here & here) to Slovenia or the Faroe Islands.

A few days ago, FERA French members reacted to the French National Rally’s threat to privatise public broadcasting and radio services in a strong joint response from industry stakeholders, warning that such a move could jeopardize the jobs of 300,000 public broadcaster employees, hinder access to reliable news, and undermine cultural diversity and representation (see the press release here).

Freedom of artistic expression requires artists and the cultural sector at large to be independent and free of any governmental censorship, political interference or pressures.

This is particularly true for the film and audiovisual sector in Europe, which crucially relies on national and regional public funding and public service broadcasting to ensure the diversity of cultural representation on screen across Member States, at a time where the rise of global streaming platforms and the uncertain impact of AI present significant challenges to the audiovisual sector in the EU and beyond.

While social media and global streaming platforms are responsible to their global shareholders, not citizens, public service broadcasting is one of the few arenas where open debate and freedom of expression can thrive and be accountable to the citizens it serves: a digital town square becoming ever more vital as we find ourselves drawn to isolating bubbles designed to amplify profit.

European democracy is a celebration of the diversity of its member states. Their citizens have just freely expressed their views at the ballot box. The same freedom of expression in our diverse cultural sector must be vigorously defended: it must be indivisible from democracy or we divide ourselves from who we are.

 

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To go further:
– European election results: https://www.politico.eu/europe-poll-of-polls/european-parliament-election
– 2016 actions of Polish Television TVP in broadcasting a programme attacking Paweł Pawlikowski’s film IDA: https://screendirectors.eu/fera-supports-polish-directors-guild-reaction-to-public-tv-attack-on-ida
– 2020 FERA statement: EU filmmakers standing in solidarity with their Faroese colleagues: https://screendirectors.eu/fera-statement-eu-filmmakers-standing-in-solidarity-with-their-faroese-colleagues-facing-censorship
– 2020-2021 FERA statement: European organisations support Slovenian film community: https://screendirectors.eu/european-organizations-support-slovenian-film-community-facing-disastrous-governmental-pressure-as-public-film-funding-is-blocked
– 2023 FERA statement: Filmmaker Agnieszka Holland received political backlash for her migrant drama Green Border: https://screendirectors.eu/european-filmmakers-in-support-of-agnieszka-holland