European Election, 6-9th June 2024
What are we voting for?
Every five years, citizens of 27 European member states vote to elect members of the European Parliament, also called MEP.
There are 720 seats. Every member state has a defined number of seats, distributed proportionally: the more citizens a country has, the more seats it has in Parliament. Germany has the most seats, with 96 MEPs, while Malta, Luxembourg and Cyprus have 6 seats.
In Parliament, members sit by transnational political groups: those bring together national political parties from the 27 countries.
The largest political groups are the EPP (European People’s Party), S&D (Progressive Alliance of Social and Democrats) and Renew Europe.
You are voting for a list of candidates, with the same number of names as there are seats per country. So, for Germany, each list as 96 names. Each list with less than 5% of votes is eliminated. Then, elected lists share the number of seats proportionally to the number of votes obtained.
What does the European Parliament do? Why does it matter?
The European Parliament (EP) is the EU’s legislative body. The Parliament votes on laws, the budget, and the European Union’s broad political direction. The EP also exercises political control over the European Commission: it is essential in the Commission’s nomination.
Given its importance, the EP is the only directly elected European institution.
The Parliament is responsible for:
Democratic scrutiny: The Parliament approves the European Commission and can bring it down through a no-confidence vote.
Deliberation: MEPs can ask written or oral questions to the Commission regarding its actions
Legislation: Most legislative proposals can only become law if they are approved by the European Parliament
EU Budget: The Parliament needs to approve the EU’s annual budget and it supervises the spending.
Learn more about the structure and procedures of the European Union here: European institutions in a nutshell – EU Watch
How to vote?
Between June 6th and 9th European citizens will vote. Voting procedures vary according to national voting procedures.
As an EU citizen, you can vote in your country of origin, from abroad or in the EU country you live in. For more information on how to register, visit: https://elections.europa.eu/en
Not sure whom to vote for? Check out these resources for your country:
Don’t forget to check your candidates!
Each national party joins a transnational, European political group once in Parliament.
Here are the 7 groups. You can check their programs of their website:
The EPP: https://www.eppgroup.eu/
S&D: https://www.socialistsanddemocrats.eu/
Renew Europe: https://www.reneweuropegroup.eu/
The Greens: https://www.greens-efa.eu/en/
The Left: https://left.eu/
The ECR: https://ecrgroup.eu/
ID Group: https://www.idgroup.eu/
You would like to learn more about the EU’s history? Have a look at this timeline.
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