Carl Bildt

STOCKHOLM – Now that voters across the European Union’s 27 member states have elected the 720 members of the next European Parliament, the focus shifts to manning the institutions that will guide the bloc’s work and set its strategic priorities over the next five years. This process will take some time. But by the end of the year – following all the predictable parliamentary haggling and turmoil – it should be complete.

All told, the shift in the political balance within the European Parliament was not as dramatic as many commentators expected. The share of seats held by traditional center-right, center-left, and liberal parties fell only from 59 percent to 56 percent. Most of the drama was confined to a few countries, not least France, where Marine Le Pen’s National Rally trounced President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance party. Though that outcome will not immediately affect the process of staffing EU institutions, a political sea change in one of the bloc’s key members obviously could have a greater impact over time.

Looking back on the past five years, it is fair to say that the EU has outperformed expectations. It might not have transformed itself into the geopolitical power that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen envisioned in........

© The Korea Times