Product Description 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. About the Author JULIET LODGE is Professor of European Politics at the University of Leeds. European Woman of the Year in 1992, she has published extensively on the European Parliament, Euro-elections, democratic legitimacy and on the EU.