As data are processed from the European Parliament elections results in the 28 Member States we are reminded that the European election is a manufacture of different and segmented national elections. Two examples: the far right progresses in Italy but suffers in Austria and secondly it seems that in some countries the election may be a departure from the second order logic that affected EU elections traditionally whereas in other countries this second order logic may still apply.

As a result, the manufacture of what we call «European election results» is the product of an interpretive struggle that starts on the election night. This narrative struggle will focus on different issues, but a first big news is that the campaign may have been significant for each of them.

Firstly, this is the most successful night for the Parliament in terms of turnout, as it reverts a 40-year downward trend and participation is the highest since 1999. Furthermore, this increase has gone hand in hand with a very moderate progress of critics of EU integration that increasingly abstain from contesting the EU project as such, that is, the polity. Without a doubt this will make the new Parliament more representative and as such more legitimate. Much discussion will follow on whose merit it is – the pan-European campaign, an increased media attention or the mere confluence of several elections in most countries – but the fact remains that the Parliament will have much to celebrate.

That being said, it may be too early to call a new era in EU politics. The increase in participation could suggest that EU elections are no longer second order ones. However, it also seems that citizens used yesterday’s election to punish national governments in the UK, the Netherlands, Germany and especially France, and punishing national government is one traditional aspect of a second order election. However, looking at France’s scenario more closely suggests that this could hardly be a second order election since president Macron has made the EU the main rally issue of his political force and by definition the main opposition to the far right and far left. It seems that national and EU politics in some countries are being increasingly melted together.

Secondly, the results and the campaign confirm that the future EU will be more politicised but there is not just one axis of politicisation. The much-emphasised opposition between pro-Europeans and Europhobic parties has been only one of the dynamics. The concern about a «populist wave» has been greatly exaggerated – not realising that their surge happened in 2014 – but if it has been successful in mobilising the voters it has not favoured the mainstream EPP and S&D but rather ALDE’s liberals and the Greens. This suggests that the campaign has put forward issues where mainstream parties are less competitive. We have retrieved Twitter conversations before and after the TV debate between the main candidates and it seems that climate change and not migration has been the main concern of users. Whereas we know that Twitter conversations are not representative of the general concern of the voters, it acts as an echo chamber of the differentiated pan-European campaign.