The Council of the European Union come to a conclusion about the date for new European Parliament elections. They are going to be held between 23 and 26 May 2019.
The elections for MEPs shall be held every five years. According to the Act concerning the election of the Members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage (20 September 1976) and its Consolidated version from 2002, the next elections must be held from 6 to 9 June 2019.
Since the Member States considered these dates as impossible for elections, the Council agreed unanimously to set alternative dates. Many countries have objected to the original dates because they overlap with the celebration of тhe Christian holiday of Pentecost.
26 May is Sunday and since some countries traditionally vote in other days of the week, the elections are scheduled for the days between 23 and 26 May.
After receiving the conclusion of the European Parliament, the Council is expected to formally adopt its decision before the end of June.
The last elections for Euro lawmakers took place on 22-25 May 2014. After Britain’s exit from the EU, the number of members of the Parliament is expected to be reduced from 751 to 705.
The European political parties are already preparing for the elections. The leading groups are worried that, as happened in the vote in 2014, the turnout will be low and there will be strong support for politicians with hostile attitudes towards the EU.
The European Union has only one single directly elected institution representing the citizens and this is the European Parliament. Its members are elected every 5 years and the total number of deputies is 751.
The number of MEPs per country is approximately proportional to its population, but this is in line with the principle of regressive proportionality: no party may have less than 6 and more than 96 MEPs, while their total number must not exceed 751 (750 plus the president).
The choice of MEPs is a subject to a certain form of proportional representation, but Member States are free to organize the electoral process on their territory according to their individual electoral systems.
