Between May 23rd and 26th, citizens from all corners of the European Union (EU) turned up to cast their vote in the European Parliament Elections. With the highest turn-out in EU history, the outcome of this year’s election was a Parliament more fragmented than ever. Indeed, although the European People Party (centre-right) and the Social and Democrats (centre-left) managed to maintain a large part of MEP seats with 180 and 146 seats respectively out of the total 751, both political groups still registered a significant loss in seats in comparison to the 2014-2019 term. These seats, as can be seen below, were fairly equally distributed between both left and right-wing political groups, and resulted in a much more politically diverse Parliament than the previous term.
So, with these results in mind, what can the Market, Social and Opinion Research industry expect for its future within the EU? At this stage, it is hard to predict. As the EPP and S&D do not retain enough seats to form a grand coalition on their own, as was previously the case, several scenarios are possible. One likely outcome is the Greens (left) and ALDE (center) join forces in a slightly left-oriented coalition. As extreme-right parties, although sharing ideas of Euroscepticism and stronger border security do differ in opinion on several topics and thus may be reluctant on working together, it is also possible that such a coalition would not face a strong and united right-wing opposition. In any event, the Market, Social and Opinion Research industry can certainly expect a demand in a strong data privacy protection policy from the left, and a guarantee that data protection will not be to the detriment of business and research-making from the right.
However, given the more fragmented composition of the parliament, the decision-making process will be increasingly difficult. Much will also depend on the new European Commission that is currently in the making, which the Parliament will need to approve. As we write, much is being debated about whether the new Commission President will be one of the elected leading candidates from the two biggest families – Manfred Weber (German, EPP) or Frans Timmermans (Dutch, S&D) – or whether another candidate will emerge.
Regardless of how things turn out, ESOMAR is already reaching out to the elected candidates to ensure the voice of the data, research and insights profession is heard, and taken into account from the start of this term. With the many critical policy challenges the EU is currently facing – artificial intelligence, data silos and monopolies, transborder data flows – it will once again be an interesting 5 years in Brussels and Strasbourg.
