Europe tilts right

The votes are still being counted, but the European Parliament election results point to a surge of support for right-wing and far-right parties. Concern at the costs of climate adaptation and about migration, combined with economic insecurity, fuelled their performance. Despite their strong showing, the right and far-right will not dominate the new Parliament. First, the parties of the centre look set to retain a (slim) majority of seats. Second, the parties to the right of the conservative European People's Party are divided between pragmatic national conservative parties such as Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy and disruptive far right-actors such as Germany's Alternative for Germany. 

Nevertheless, the results will have a deep impact on European politics over the next five years. The arithmetic in the new Parliament will complicate Commission President Ursula von der...