This article was part of my curricular assignment submitted at Coursera's 'Understanding Europe' by HEC Paris.
The European Union is an
association of states counting 28 in number, which emerged after the Second
World War, currently inhabited by 500 million citizens, speaking 24 languages
and representing the largest trade block in the world. The European Parliament
is the only EU institution to be directly elected by the EU citizens through
universal adult suffrage. Held once in every 5 years, the Elections see 751
MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) from the 28 EU member states getting
elected to represent their nation on a European level. The 2014 European
Parliament Elections, held between 22- 25 May had a voter turnout of 43.09% as
opposed to the opinion poll estimation, which stood at 43.11%. While some
reactions consider the voter turnout figure as an achievement of European
democracy, with the 2014 Elections being the first election to reverse a
decreasing voter turnout trend (2009 Elections had a voter turnout of 43%).
Skeptics still discount the 0.09% increase from 2009 as any indication of
increased democratic participation. The irony is that even though half of the
28 member states had a voter turnout greater than the EU average of 43.09%,
this should be accounted either to compulsory voting (as in Belgium and
Luxembourg with turnout of 90%) or to the fact that the European elections
coincided with the national elections (as in Lithuania, Greece and Germany;
Lithuania’s % change in voter turnout from 2009 stood at a remarkable 24%). 
