Between June 6 and 9, citizens of the European Union member countries will go to the polls to elect 720 politicians to the European Parliament. It may seem like an electoral extravaganza, but for four days, in 27 countries, in 24 official languages, around 373 million Europeans are expected to vote, writes News.ro.
Vote in the European ParliamentPhoto: FREDERICK FLORIN / AFP / Profimedia
The Netherlands will start the European elections on June 6, while most of the member countries, including Romania, organize the polls on June 9.
The Netherlands will be followed by Ireland, where the vote will take place on Friday, June 7, and by Latvia, Malta and Slovakia, where the vote will take place on Saturday, June 8. In the Czech Republic, polls will be open on Friday and Saturday, while in Italy voting will take place on Saturday and Sunday.
The other 20 countries of the Union (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Hungary) will organize the elections European on Sunday, June 9.
Provisional results will be published on Sunday evening in all countries, even in those where voting took place on previous days.
The political groups in the European Parliament
Every 5 years, the more than 700 members of the European Parliament are elected. They represent the nearly 450 million Europeans. After the elections, MEPs form political groups, depending on common principles.
The elections are contested between the national political parties, but once elected, most MEPs choose to become part of the transnational political groups. Most of the national parties are affiliated to a political party at the European level. At least one fourth of the member states must be represented in the group. A deputy can belong to only one political group. Some deputies are not part of any political group, being, in this case, unaffiliated deputies.
Currently, the European Parliament has 705 seats. MEPs from each member country belong to one of the seven parliamentary groups or are unaffiliated. Each group is constituted by a minimum of 23 MEPs from at least a quarter of the EU countries.
The Group of the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) – EPP – and the Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament – S&D – are currently the largest political groups of the seven in the current Parliament. The other groups are Renew Europe, the Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance, the Group of European Conservatives and Reformists, the Group of Identity and Democracy and the Group of the Left in the European Parliament – GUE/NGL.
Recent opinion polls show gains for the far-right Identity and Democracy, although the EPP and S&D continue to dominate as political groups.
How many MEPs does each country have?
EU member states, of different sizes, elect a different number of MEPs. There can be no more than 96 and no less than 6 seats for each country. Currently, Germany has the largest possible number of representatives, with the 79 French MEPs occupying the second position, and the 76 Italian MEPs the third position.
Romania has 33 parliamentarians.
In the next legislature, however, the number of seats in the European Parliament will increase by 15, reaching a total of 720. This means that some countries will elect a few more MEPs than those currently representing them, but no country will choose fewer. Romania remains with 33 MEPs.
The number of MEPs elected from each EU state is agreed before each election and is based on the principle of degressive proportionality, according to which each MEP from a larger country represents more citizens than one MEP from a smaller country.
Here are how many MEPs will be elected by each state in the 2024 European elections:
- Germany: 96
- France: 81
- Italy: 76
- Spain: 61
- Poland: 53
- Romania: 33
- Netherlands: 31
- Belgium: 22
- Greece: 21
- Czech Republic: 21
- Sweden: 21
- Portugal: 21
- Hungary: 21
- Austria: 20
- Bulgaria: 17
- Denmark: 15
- Finland: 15
- Slovakia: 15
- Ireland: 14
- Croatia: 12
- Lithuania: 11
- Slovenia: 9
- Latvia: 9
- Estonia: 7
- Cyprus: 6
- Luxembourg: 6
- Malta: 6
Age of candidates in the European elections
European elections are naturally heavily influenced by national politics, but the diverse electoral systems and rules in member countries add another level of complexity to the electoral map. Although all voting systems must ensure proportional representation for European elections, national electoral systems differ greatly. For example, the age thresholds for candidates vary between 18 and 25 years, and 14 member countries require political parties to pass a percentage threshold to enter the European Parliament. Romania has a minimum age of 23 for candidates in the European Parliament elections, among the “highest”.
People who are both citizens and residents of the EU country in which they wish to vote have fairly standard ways to do so, as in any other election. However, overseas voting methods can be more difficult to navigate.
Voting in the European elections varies drastically from one country to another. While five EU countries have compulsory voting, turnout in European elections is notoriously low.
What powers does the European Parliament have?
Together with the representatives of the governments of the EU states, the MEPs shape and decide on the new laws that influence all aspects of life in the European Union, from supporting the economy to the fight against poverty and climate change and to security issues.
MEPs bring important political, economic and social issues to the center of attention and support the values of the European Union: respect for human rights, freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law.
The Parliament approves the EU budget and supervises its spending. It also elects the president of the European Commission, appoints the commissioners and can hold them accountable.
What salaries and pensions do MEPs have?
All members of the European Parliament receive the same salary.
The monthly salary of a deputy is 10,075.18 euros gross and 7,853.89 euros net, after deducting EU taxes and social security contributions (figures valid on July 1, 2023). The funds come from the budget of the Parliament.
As Member States may impose additional national taxes, the final net figures depend on the tax regime of the MP’s home country.
Former MEPs have the right to a pension upon reaching the age of 63, in accordance with Article 14 of the Statute of MEPs in the European Parliament.
The pension is 3.5% of their salary for each full year of service and one-twelfth of their salary for each additional full month, but does not exceed 70% in total. Its cost is borne by the EU budget.
In the case of the new deputies, starting from July 2009, the application of the complementary pension regime, introduced for deputies in 1989 and in the process of being eliminated, was abandoned.
In addition to their salary, MEPs, like members of national parliaments, are entitled to allowances that cover expenses incurred in the exercise of their parliamentary duties, often away from home. Thus, for example, the allowance for general expenses (4,950 per month), or ICG, is a lump sum that allows deputies to cover expenses such as renting offices in the member state in which they were elected, the purchase of IT hardware and software, office supplies, mobile phones/subscriptions and internet subscriptions.
The per diem (350 euros per day), also known as the residence allowance, is a lump sum that covers accommodation, meals and related expenses every day that an MEP is at the European Parliament on official activity.
At the end of their mandate, MEPs are entitled to a transitional allowance, equivalent to one month’s salary per year of mandate, for a period of no more than two years.
If a former deputy occupies a new position elsewhere, the new salary is deducted from the transitional allowance.
MEPs can use official vehicles to attend meetings or events in Brussels or Strasbourg.
Tags: salaries pensions MEPs MEPs state send Brussels European Parliament elections
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