The 2004 election of the European Parliament marks something of a defining point in the history of European integration. The 2004 elections seemed simultaneously mundane and an accepted feature of a sui generis system, now accepted as a polity in its own right, that a quarter of a century ago had seen politicians fiercely disputing the wisdom and desirability of the people directly electing a European Parliament at all.

The 2004 election of the European Parliament marks something of a defining point in the history of European integration. The 2004 elections seemed simultaneously mundane and an accepted feature of a sui generis system, now accepted as a polity in its own right, that a quarter of a century ago had seen politicians fiercely disputing the wisdom and desirability of the people directly electing a European Parliament at all.