As every five years since 1979, citizens will be called to the polls in May 2019. The objective: to renew the composition of the European Parliament, the parliamentary body which, together with the Council of the European Union, constitutes the legislative power of the Union. Forty years ago these first elections were held. They have made the European Parliament the first - and to date the only - international assembly directly elected by universal suffrage. The exhibition Elire Europe is a historic journey, just weeks before a new vote. Hover over each of the nine member countries of Parliament at that time and, through posters, caricatures and video clips, get into the issues of an election and the debates it sparked. These questions of 40 years ago are already those of today: participation and abstention, the place of women in Europe under construction, euroscepticism, the place of the United Kingdom in institutions, democracy. What look at these 1979 elections, the ones that met with the greatest success among voters? The exhibition gives pride of place to political communication around the European idea, between utopia and reality, and puts into perspective the current institutions to better understand them.

Exhibition under the patronage of the European Parliament