EUROPEAN ELECTIONS 2009 ⟩ Europeans hit by economic crisis have grabbed populists as a lifeline

Even before the 2009 European Parliament elections, it was clear that in the midst of the worst economic crisis in decades, voters at the polls were likely to protest a lot, electing to represent themselves in Strasbourg the MEPs who were perhaps most hostile to European politics. EU than ever.

Due to the economic crisis, unemployment in the EU has been steadily increasing since March 2008, from 3.7 million in the euro area at the time to 15 million in May 2009, and from 5.4 million to 21, 5 million in the entire community. At the time of the elections, almost one in ten Europeans of working age was unemployed.

As construction, financial services, and the auto industry were hit especially hard by the recession, the men who dominated their workforces also suffered hardest from the crisis. Youth unemployment also grew faster than average, Eurostat pointed out at the time.

2024-01-28 17:04:00
european-elections-2009-%e2%9f%a9-europeans-hit-by-economic-crisis-have-grabbed-populists-as-a-lifeline