So, the results. Across Europe and in France, center-right parties took majorities. More specifics on that in a minute. As they were announcing the results of the election in France last night, I got to thinking about the structure of the European Union and I realized that I didn’t really get it. After some basic research I found this: there are 736 parliamentary seats and European countries are awarded seats on the basis of population. France has 72 seats. Germany has 99, with the highest population in Europe. 

Many countries in Europe, like France, have a multitude of political parties (France has at least 20), unlike the binary two-party system of the United States. The posters above are just a few of the many fliers floating around representing the various political interests in France. 

On the extreme left we have the Trotskyists, Anticapitalists, the French Communists, the Socialists and then we move to the Greens (ecologists) and then further toward the center, we have the left-centrists (the Democratic Movement) and then the left-right (the UMP, Nicolas Sarkozy’s party), further right the Eurosceptics, all the way to the extreme right and the Nationalists and Le Pen (the ever famous, almost fascist Frenchman in politics). That is just an overview and certainly does not include all of the parties or their interests, but it does give a picture of the broad spectrum of the political landscape in France (and in many other countries in Europe). 

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