Elections for the European Parliament in Strasbourg – the world’s only popularly elected multinational legislature – take place every five years. With almost 450 million EU citizens set to vote from June 6-9, it is the largest democratic election in the world after India.
The European Parliament is the world’s only popularly elected multinational legislature, with European residents choosing lawmakers to represent their interests at the EU level. Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) decide which laws will apply across the European Union – from environmental regulation to migration to security policy – as well as approve the EU budget and monitor how the money is spent.
Parliament, alongside the European Council, also elects the president of the European Commission (currently Ursula von der Leyen, who is seeking a new term) and appoints its 27 commissioners.
Although the election's purpose is to decide who serves in parliament, voters often use it to express displeasure with their national governments. Members of France's right wing, for example, have said they want the election to serve as a referendum on President Emmanuel Macron.
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How is power shared?
Voters in the 2024 elections will be selecting 720 members of the European Parliament. The number of MEPs is decided before each election, with a maximum of 750 (plus the president).
Each country’s representation is based on population size, with the most seats allocated to Germany with 96 seats, France with 81, 76 for Italy, 61 for Spain and 53 for Poland. At the other end of the spectrum, Cyprus, Luxembourg and Malta hold just six seats each.
Voters elect slates of candidates that have been submitted by their respective parties.
Once elected, MEPs will join parliamentary "groups" according to ideology (greens, socialists, centre right, far right, etc.). For example, the centre-left Socialist and Democrats (S&D) group unites members from Germany’s Social Democratic Party, France’s Socialist Party and Italy’s Democratic Party, among others.
The two largest parliamentary groups have tended to be the centre-right European People's Party and the S&D, but far-right parties have been making significant inroads across Europe and are expected to do well in 2024.
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How does the vote proceed?
The vote kicks off this year on June 6 with the Netherlands, followed by Ireland and Czechia (Czech Republic) a day later. Italy, Latvia, Malta and Slovakia begin voting on June 8 but the vast majority of EU member states will vote on Sunday, June 9, with results expected later that evening.
Not all member states conduct EU elections the same way, with voting age varying across the EU (from as low as 16 to 18 for most member states) and the election itself conforming to the procedures of each individual member state. Voting is compulsory only in Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece and Luxembourg.
If you are an EU citizen and would like to know how to vote, click here.
Seats are allocated proportionally, so if a party wins 25 percent of its national vote it will also receive 25 percent of its country’s seats at the European Parliament.
Turnout for EU elections tends to be low: Participation in the last elections of 2019 hit just 50.6 percent, surpassing the 50-percent mark for the first time since 1994. Turnout hit an all-time high of 62 percent back in 1979 and has steadily declined.
To view an infographic on EU voting procedures, click here
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What the EU Parliament does
MEPs serve five-year terms that are largely spent shuttling between the European Parliament’s two official seats in Strasbourg and Brussels. Plenary sessions in which MEPs gather to vote on legislation take place in Strasbourg four days a month.
The European Parliament is in charge of monitoring EU institutions as well as promoting human rights both within Europe and around the world. Its powers and responsibilities have gradually expanded through successive amendments to EU treaties.
Twenty parliamentary committees tackle policy issues such as defence and security, international trade, environmental regulations and human rights issues. The European Parliament conducts business using all 24 official EU languages, with all documents published in each language. MEPs have the right to work in their own language and provisions are made for them to do so.
While most of the primary function of most parliaments is legislation, three separate EU institutions are responsible for legislating. The European Commission is the only branch that can propose laws while the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union decide to approve or reject them; both must agree for legislation to be enacted.
- The European Commission is the EU’s executive branch and is the only EU body that can introduce legislation. It is also responsible for external trade policies and ensuring that member states are respecting EU treaties and laws. The Commission is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day running of the European Union and its president is considered the most powerful EU role.
- The European Parliament represents EU citizens and is directly elected. Along with the Council of the European Union, it adopts EU legislation and approves the EU budget.
- The EU Council is actually divided into two, although they share the same buildings: the Council of the European Union is made up of ministers from the national governments of EU member states and is chaired by the representative of the member state that currently holds the rotating six-month EU presidency. It coordinates economic policies across the EU and, along with Parliament, adopts EU legislation and approves the budget. The European Council unites the heads of state or government of member states at the EU level; it is the highest political body of the EU and is responsible for drafting the EU response to unforeseen crises (such as Covid-19 or the war in Ukraine). It meets at least four times a year and can take decisions independent of either the European Commission or Parliament. The European Council establishes the EU’s general political guidelines and usually decides issues by consensus. It elects its president (currently Charles Michel) for a 2.5-year term, renewable once, who represents the EU to the rest of the world.
After the elections
One of the first tasks of a European Parliament is to elect the new president of the European Commission and appoint its 27 commissioners. While it is the European Council that proposes a candidate for commission president – and is obliged to take "into account" parliamentary election results – its candidate must then be approved by a majority vote at the European Parliament. The largest political group(s) emerging from the elections will thus be in the strongest position to determine the Commission's future president, considered the most powerful role at the EU level.
Candidates for the 27 commissioner posts go through an involved vetting process. The European Council and the new president-elect of the European Commission adopt a list of candidates, one from each member state, who appear before parliamentary committees to answer questions on their respective policy areas. The European Parliament then holds a single vote on the full slate of commissioners before they are formally appointed by the European Council.
