What are the European elections and how do they work?

Do you have questions about the upcoming European elections? This explainer is for you.

Transcript

00:00The European Parliament elections are being held in June.

00:03It is the only directly elected institution of the European Union.

00:07But how exactly do these elections work?

00:09First, let's talk about the electoral process.

00:12The elections are held every five years,

00:14giving the 447 million citizens in the bloc's 27 member states

00:19the opportunity to choose who will represent them in the European Parliament.

00:23But they don't all vote the same way.

00:25Some countries vote for parties

00:27who have selected a fixed list of candidates to appear on the ballot paper.

00:31Other countries have more open lists,

00:33where voters choose a party or indicate who their favourite candidate is.

00:37Additionally, there's also the single transferable vote,

00:40where electors choose as many candidates as they like and number them by preference.

00:45MEPs are elected to represent regions in some countries, like Italy,

00:49while in others, such as Germany, they have the whole country as their constituency.

00:55The European Parliament elections use a proportional representation system,

00:59where each member state is allocated a certain number of seats based on its population size.

01:04Germany, the most populous member state, will get 96 MEPs,

01:09while Malta, the smallest country by population within the EU, has just 6.

01:14A total of 720 MEPs will be elected, 15 more compared to the previous elections.

01:21Once elected, they will serve a five-year term

01:24and spend their time between European Parliament meetings in Strasbourg and Brussels.

01:28MEPs representing different countries and regions sit in transnational groups,

01:33according to their political ideology.

01:35For example, there are groupings to represent the centre-right, socialists, greens and Eurosceptics.

01:42The largest political grouping after the elections

01:45has the strongest mandate to have its choice head up the Commission.

01:48The European Council, comprising representatives of EU countries,

01:52first votes on a nominee chosen after taking into account the election result.

01:57If they approve the candidate, it goes to the European Parliament,

02:01where he or she must get the support of a majority of MEPs.

02:05The Parliament directly shapes EU legislation, policies and budgets,

02:10reflecting the democratic voice of almost half a billion citizens across Europe.

02:15But regardless of its importance, EU election turnout has been on a downward trend,

02:20dropping significantly from the 62% recorded four decades ago.

02:25This decline has persisted despite a handful of countries having compulsory voting,

02:30including Belgium, Greece and Bulgaria.

02:34In 2019, voter turnout increased, with just over half of eligible voters participating.

02:45For more UN videos visit www.un.org