BRUSSELS (news agencies) — Around 400 million European Union citizens go to the polls next month to elect members of the European Parliament, or MEPs, in one of the biggest global democratic events.
Far-right parties are seeking to gain more power amid a rise in the cost of living and farmers’ discontent, while the wars in Gaza and Ukraine are on the minds of voters.
One of the biggest questions is whether European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will remain in charge as the most visible face of the EU.
Here is a look at the upcoming election and the biggest issues at stake:
EU elections are held every five years across the 27-member bloc. This year marks the 10th parliamentary election since the first polls in 1979, and the first after Brexit.
The vote takes place from June 6-9. First results can only be revealed on the evening of June 9, once polling stations have closed in all member states.
The elections start on a Thursday in the Netherlands and finish on a Sunday, when most countries hold their election. The voting is done by direct universal suffrage in a single ballot.
The number of members elected in each country depends on the size of the population. It ranges from six for Malta, Luxembourg and Cyprus to 96 for Germany. In 2019, Europeans elected 751 lawmakers. Following the United Kingdom’s departure from the EU in 2020, the number of MEPs fell to 705. Some of the 73 seats previously held by British MEPs had been redistributed to other member states.
After the election, the European Parliament will have 15 additional members, bringing the total to 720. Twelve countries will get extra MEPs.
Elections are contested by national political parties, but once they are elected, most of the lawmakers then join transnational political groups.
People under 18 are allowed to vote in some countries. In Belgium, a law adopted in 2022 lowered the minimum voting age to 16. Germany, Malta and Austria are also permitting 16-year-olds to vote. In Greece, the youngest voting age is 17. In all other member states, it’s 18.
A minimum age is also required to stand for election — from 18 in most countries to 25 in Italy and Greece.
European Union elections usually don’t bring a huge turnout, but there was a clear upturn in public interest in the 2019 election. At 50.7%, the turnout was eight points higher than in 2014 after steadily falling since 1979, when it reached 62%.
In April, the latest edition of the European Parliament’s Eurobarometer highlighted a surge of interest in the upcoming election. Around 71% of Europeans said they are likely to cast a ballot.
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine is at the forefront of citizens’ minds, with defense and security seen as key campaign issues. At national level, the EU’s defense and security was mentioned first in nine countries.
The economy, jobs, poverty and social exclusion, public health, climate change and the future of Europe are also featuring prominently as issues.
The European Parliament is the only EU institution to be elected by European citizens. It’s a real counterpower to the powerful EU’s executive arm, the European Commission.
The parliament doesn’t have the initiative of proposing legislation. But its powers are getting bigger. It is now competent on a wide range of topics, voting on laws relating to climate, banking rules, agriculture, fisheries, security or justice. The legislature also votes on the EU budget, which is crucial to the implementation of European policies, including, for instance, the aid delivered to Ukraine.
Lawmakers are also a key element of the check and balances system since they need to approve the nomination of all EU commissioners, who are the equivalent of ministers. And it can also force the whole commission to resign with a vote by a two-third majority.
With 176 seats out of 705 as of the end of the last plenary session in April, the center-right European People’s Party is the largest political group in the European Parliament.
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