Brevi riflessioni sugli equilibri politico-istituzionali nella prospettiva dell'elezione del Parlamento europeo del 2019

The elections to the 8th European Parliament (EP) will be held in all EU Member States in May 2019. The article analyzes the position of populist and sovranist parties in relation to the powers’ division between the Union and Member States. The principle of institutional balance in the EU implies that each of its institutions has to act in accordance with the pow- ers conferred on it by the Treaties. The article refers to the relationship between the three main EU institutions: the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission. The dynamics between these democratic institutions depends con- siderably on the outcome of the EP elections. The political groups within which its members (MEPs) organize themselves accord- ing to their ideological views are very important for the EU decision-making process. Following the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU, some of the seats will be redis- tributed among National Lists. The composition of the European Parliament will change if Eurosceptic parties expand their strength.