EU: more Transparence and involvement: An 'open door' for EU citizens - by Andrew Rettman

Ordinary EU citizens should get a say in Brussels lawmaking and hold officials to account via the European Parliament's petitions committee (PETI) in the next five years, according to its chairman, Spanish centre-right MEP Dolors Montserrat. The "open door" to Brussels should also create "proximity" between people and EU officials in troubled times, she said. 

Read more at: An 'open door' for EU citizens

Italian elections: Eurosceptic Italy in race to form majority government - by Stephanie Kirchgaessner and Daniel Boffey

The two populist parties that won major upsets in the Italian election – the Five Star Movement (M5S) and the League (La Liga) – are in a race to be the first to try to form a majority government after the election produced a hung parliament.

The decision will ultimately fall to Italy’s president, Sergio Mattarella, who could take weeks to determine whether the anti-establishment M5S, which took 32.6% of the vote, or a fragile centre-right alliance led by the League’s bombastic Matteo Salvini, with 35.7% of the vote, are better equipped to create a majority government.

As Italy and Europe digested the news on Monday that a majority of Italian voters had supported Eurosceptic candidates in the national election, both sides began jockeying for position, saying each had earned the right to lead. The Italian constitution gives Mattarella the power to give the mandate to any party, regardless of who has won the most votes.

While the former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi had been seen as leading the centre-right coalition, results showed he was beaten by his younger rival on the right, following a campaign in which Salvini emphasised support for radical immigration policies, including mass deportations of immigrants who are in Italy illegally.

Read more: Eurosceptic Italy in race to form majority government | World news | The Guardian

Danish centre-right opposition wins election, PM quits party

Danish voters ousted Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt in an election on Thursday and handed power to an opposition centre-right alliance including huge gains for a eurosceptic, anti-immigrant party.

Opposition leader Lars Lokke Rasmussen said he would try to form a government but is likely to have to make big concessions to ensure support from the right-wing Danish Peoples’ Party (DF), which ended up with more votes than his Liberal Party.

With all of the votes counted on the mainland, the centre-right won 90 seats in parliament to 85 seats for the centre-left bloc of Thorning-Schmidt, who wrongly gambled that an economic upturn would win her re-election. Denmark’s first female prime minister, elected in 2011, Thorning-Schmidt conceded defeat and quit as party leader after the vote.

DF, the second-biggest party behind Thorning-Schmidt’s Social Democrats, has supported the Liberals in government before and its backing gives the centre-right led by Rasmussen its overall majority.
“Tonight we have been given an opportunity, but only an opportunity, to take leadership in Denmark,” Rasmussen told supporters in parliament.

Read Danish centre-right opposition wins election, PM quits party

European Parliamentary Elections: Polls show Europe's centre-right leads by a sliver before next weeks EU elections

EU-Digest Poll shows close race

The center-right is set to win the most seats in European Parliament elections next week, but its wafer-thin poll lead suggests the chances of securing the presidency of the European Commission are uncertain.

The European People's Party (EPP) will take 212 seats in the May 22-25 vote, according to an analysis of national polls on Wednesday by PollWatch 2014, only three more seats than its center-left rivals, the Socialists and Democrats (S&D).

There are 751 seats in the parliament, around 70 percent of which are expected to go to Europe's four mainstream groups - the center-right, center-left, Liberals and Greens.

Around a quarter of seats look likely to be won by anti-EU or protest parties on the far-right and far-left, almost double their standing at the last election in 2009. That's largely because of voter frustration with high unemployment and low growth.

Under EU rules introduced in 2009, the party that wins the election is best placed to have its top candidate become the president of the European Commission, one of Brussels' most powerful jobs, with far-reaching influence over legislation.

But while the EPP may just edge out the Socialists in the vote, according to Wednesday's survey, the Socialists are better placed to secure allegiances with other parties on the left, potentially helping them secure a majority in parliament.

Since the nominee for Commission president must be approved by parliamentary majority, the Socialists may be able to argue that their candidate has greater legitimacy than the center-right EPP's.
The nomination for Commission president will be made by EU leaders, who are required to "take into account" the results of the election in making their choice.

The EPP has chosen Jean-Claude Juncker, 59, the former prime minister of Luxembourg and a central broker during the euro zone debt crisis, as their candidate to succeed Portugal's Jose Manuel Barroso, who has led the Commission since 2004.

The Socialists are backing Germany's Martin Schulz, 58, the current head of the European Parliament and an ardent campaigner for more money to be spent helping young people get jobs.

The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, known as ALDE, have chosen former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt as their candidate for Commission president. But PollWatch's latest survey sees the Liberals taking just 63 seats.

The European Parliamentary elections will be held throughout the 28 EU member states from 22 to 25 May 2014 - let your voice be heard - VOTE -  IT IS OUR EUROPEAN UNION.

Read more: Europe's centre-right leads by a sliver before EU election: poll | Reuters

ICELAND: Center Right Wins Elections

After some 4 years out of power Center Right looks to be back in control of government. Votes are still being counted but the numbers favor the Center Right.

Read more: Iceland center-right takes commanding lead in elections http://www.dw.de/iceland-center-right-takes-commanding-lead-in-elections/a-16776893?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf