and Ireland is just about to send a majority of left of centre politicans to represent the country for the first time!

You're confusing European right with American right. European right is like American moderates.

Most of the EU countries have voted to move to the center/right. While the USA is moving to the center/left. Ironic? Probably just another ebb and flow of the political tides. All politicians mess up eventually. Then the electorate switch to the other side.

1) The European citizens elected the European Parliament. It is not the European government. "The European Parliament shares the legislative and budgetary authority of the Union with the Council." "The Council of the European Union (informally known as the Council of Ministers or just the Council) is a body holding legislative and executive powers and is thus the main decision making body of the Union. Its Presidency rotates between the states every six months, but every three Presidencies now cooperate on a common programme. This body is separate from the European Council which is a similar but is composed of national leaders: see below" "The Commission of the European Communities is the executive arm of the Union. It is a body composed of one appointee from each state, currently twenty-seven, but is designed to be independent of national interests. The body is responsible for drafting all law of the European Union and has a monopoly over legislative initiative within the European Community pillar. It also deals with the day-to-day running of the Union and has a duty to uphold the law and treaties (in this role it is known as the "Guardian of the Treaties")." Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institutions_of_the_European_Union 2) "Voters across Europe have delivered gains for the centre-right with the Socialists losing ground. Results suggest that the centre-right European People's Party will retain their position as the largest group in the European Parliament. The exact make-up of the groups will not become clear until the first sitting of the new assembly on July 14 when a new President and the Chairs of Committees will be elected. At a glance: The Group of the European People's Party (EPP), led by Joseph Daul, remains the largest group going from 288 seats (36.7%) to 265 seats (36%). The new figure does not include British Conservative Members who have declared their intention to form a new group. The Socialist Group (PES) under Martin Schulz had 215 seats (27.6%) and now has 162 MEPs (22%). They lost ground but will still be the second biggest group The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe led by Graham Watson counted 100 Members (12.7%). The group will now be composed of 80 MEPs (10.9%). On these figures, the liberals will still be the third largest party. The Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance led by Daniel Cohn-Bendit and Monica Frassoni had 43 MEPs (5.5%) and grows to 51 MEPs (6.9%). On this showing, the Greens will form the fourth largest group." Source and further information: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/public/story_page/008-56956-166-06-25-901-20090608STO56947-2009-15-06-2009/default_en.htm 3) An important issue in the EU at the moment is where is the EU going. After the recent rejection of the project of new constitution, we are still far for the making of a political union. For the same reason, the relationship between the EU and the US will not change a lot, because a great part of international politics is still determined by the governments of the various member states.