The dominant perspective of European Parliament (EP) elections is that these are second-order national elections where little is at stake. This Special Issue asks whether this perspective is still valid in view of increased politicization of European integration and in view of the higher turnout levels at the last EP elections. This introduction provides a general framework for the Special Issue and reflects upon some of its main findings. We argue that EP elections can only be considered first-order if they are primarily about the policies, rather than the polity. Some of the contributions in this Special Issue suggest that this is indeed the case. We reflect upon this and argue that there are reasons to expect that EP elections will become more first order in the future.

欧洲议会 (EP) 选举的主要观点是，这些是次要的全国选举，几乎没有什么危险。本期特刊询问，鉴于欧洲一体化日益政治化以及上次欧洲议会选举的投票率较高，这种观点是否仍然有效。本介绍为特刊提供了一个总体框架，并反映了其一些主要发现。我们认为，如果 EP 选举主要与政策有关，而不是与政体有关，则只能将其视为一级选举。本期特刊中的一些贡献表明情况确实如此。我们对此进行反思，并认为有理由预期 EP 选举在未来将变得更加重要。