2023-05-17 12:36:39
One year before the vote, the calendar for the next European elections is now fixed. The ambassadors of the twenty-seven countries of the European Union (EU) have decided to organize the ballot from Thursday June 6 to Sunday June 9, 2024, announced the Swedish Presidency of the Council of the EU, Wednesday May 17.
This political agreement must be formally recorded on Monday by a Council of European Ministers. In total, more than 400 million Europeans will be called upon to vote.
Seven hundred and five MEPs after the departure from the United Kingdom
Elections for MEPs are held every five years by proportional ballot in one round, which is multi-member. They usually start on a Thursday (the day on which the Netherlands traditionally votes) and end on a Sunday (voting day in most member countries, including France).
The final participation rate in the last European elections in all member countries was 50.66%, registering an increase of 8.06 points compared to 2014.
The European Parliament – co-legislator with the Member States – currently has 705 elected members, after the departure of British MEPs in January 2020, following Brexit. The number of seats in play per country depends on the size of the country’s population., although small countries have more seats than if the principle of strict proportionality were applied. The number of members sitting today ranges from six (for Malta, Luxembourg and Cyprus) to 96 (for Germany), with France holding 79.
Political balances
The European People’s Party (EPP, right) is the main political force in the European Parliament, ahead of the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) and Renew Europe (centrists and liberals).
The balance between the political families during these elections then determines the presidencies of the main European institutions (Parliament, Commission, Council), the renewed Parliament being notably called upon to vote to elect the new presidency of the European Commission and to approve the whole the team of curators appointed.
The president of this executive body of the EU is since 2019 the former German minister Ursula von der Leyen, from the ranks of the EPP. She has not yet announced whether she will run again in 2024, but this hypothesis seems very likely.
The presidency of Parliament is also currently in the hands of the EPP, the Maltese Roberta Metsola having succeeded in January 2022 to the Italian socialist David Sassoli, who died shortly before. The President of the European Council, Belgian Charles Michel, is from the Renew Europe family.
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