European Elections 2024: The Basics
From June 6 to 9 2024 EU citizens will elect a new European Parliament. The election date in Germany is 9 June 2024. All you need to know about the 2024 elections you will find here.
What is the European Parliament?
The European Parliament represents the citizens of the EU. Together with the Council of the EU, it acts as the legislator. In most cases, Parliament and Council must reach an agreement for legislative acts to enter into force (ordinary legislative procedure). In other areas, the Parliament cannot make any changes to the proposed legislation (consent procedure) or is only consulted (consultation procedure). In addition to legislative powers, the European Parliament also approves the EU budget, elects the European Commission and monitors the executive branch (Commission and Council).
Composition
The European Parliament consists of 720 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) from the 27 member states. The number of MEPs depends on the size of the country, whereby the principle of degressive proportionality applies. This means that less populous Member States are overrepresented in proportion to their population. If this were not the case, smaller countries would either have very few/no MEPs or the parliament would be very large. With 96 MEPs, Germany holds most seats, while Malta, for example, only holds six seats. This means that MEPs from Germany represent around 866,000 people, while MEPs from Malta represent around 83,000 people.
There are currently seven political groups in the European Parliament:
- European People's Party (EPP)
- Progressive Alliance of Socialists & Democrats (S&D)
- Renew Europe (Renew)
- European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR)
- Identity and Democracy (ID)
- The Left in the European Parliament (GUE/NGL)
Some MEPs do not belong to a political group and are non-attached members.
Seat
The European Parliament has its official seat in Strasbourg (France), with other places of work being Brussels (Belgium) and Luxembourg (Luxembourg). The monthly plenary sessions take place in Strasbourg. Other meetings, including committee and political group meetings, are held in Brussels.
The European Parliament has two offices in Germany. The nearest liaison office is in Munich.
How are the Members elected?
The European Parliament is elected in direct elections every five years since 1979. This makes the election on 9 June 2024 the 10th European Parliament election.
MEPs are elected by direct universal suffrage in a free and secret ballot. Proportional representation applies in all EU countries. To date, there is no uniform electoral law for all 27 EU member states; each country determines its own electoral law.
In Germany, elections are based on lists on candidates. There can be both state lists and nationwide lists. Every voter has one vote. In Germany, there is currently no threshold for the European elections.
Who is eligible to vote?
In Germany you are eligible to vote if you
- hold German or another EU citizenship
- are 16 years of age or older,
- are resident in Germany and have also resided in the EU for at least three months and
- are not excluded from the right to vote (e.g. by a court ruling).
Furthermore, you have to be registered in the electorate register. The municipality in which you have your main residence or last had your main residence before moving abroad is responsible for questions regarding the right to vote in the European elections. You can find further information under "Voting in Nuremberg".
Information in easy-to-read (German) language
What is the European election? And what does the European Parliament do? This and much more you can find out in easy-to-read language on the following websites.