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European Parliament election
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If someone is a resident in Sweden, yet a citizen of England, they are allowed to vote in the election ________.
Danni is on holiday in Greece. Where are those people going? They’re going to vote. Yes, there’s an election, but not only in Greece: in all the countries that are members of the European Union, the EU. So… is it an EU election?
Well. Even if it’s sometimes called an EU election, it’s actually an election to one part of the EU, one institution: the European Parliament. It’s a European parliamentary election. So, what happens in the European Parliament? Well, that’s partly where they decide the EU laws and budget.
I suppose you want to run in this election, Danni? Oh, you’re on holiday. … But you still want to know how the election works. Of course you do. Seven hundred and five representatives sit as Members of the European Parliament: MEPs for short. Each EU country, each member state, sends a number of MEPs, depending on that country’s population.
Every 5 years all member states vote in the election to the European Parliament, to select their MEPs. Everyone who is a citizen of an EU country gets to vote, with the same rules as in their country’s national elections. You can vote for one of your own country’s political parties, if that party is running in the European Parliamentary election. If you’re not a citizen of the EU country where you are living, for instance Greece, then you can choose to vote for one of the Greek parties in the European Parliamentary election. Or you can vote for one of the parties from the country of which you are a citizen.
But you can only vote once: either in your country of residence, or in your country of citizenship. You cannot vote in both places at the same time. In most countries you have to be 18 to vote, but in some countries you only need to be 17, or even just 16. The actual day of the election can vary too; in some countries it’s on a Thursday, but in most EU countries voting takes place on a Sunday. Since each country sends its MEPs from various parties to the European Parliament, there are usually MEPs from over a hundred different parties.
It can be hard to make decisions with so many parties. That’s why the parties are in political groups, that agree politically, even if the MEPs are from different countries. Today there are 8 political groups. But there are also MEPs who don’t want to be members of any political group, or who aren’t accepted by any group. They’re called non-attached members.
The person in charge of the work done by the European Parliament is called the speaker. The speaker is chosen by the other MEPs. Usually the speaker is a member of one of the three biggest political groups. What’s happening now? They’re moving.
Well the European Parliament isn’t located in one single place, but in three different countries: Belgium, France, and Luxemburg. The MEPs meet both in Brussels and in Strasbourg. So once a month all the MEPs travel from Brussels to Strasbourg, where they work for four days. In Luxemburg there’s a building where the MEPs’ assistants do their work. This is called the Secretariat.
Can the European Parliament decide everything for themselves? No... Another institution within the EU: the European Commission, proposes laws. Then the European Parliament votes for - or against - the proposal. If more than half of the MEPs vote for a proposal, it is approved.
But another institution must also vote yes before the proposal can become EU law. This is where the heads of state or government leaders from all the EU countries meet: the European Council. Yes, there are many people working together to decide things in the EU. You want to decide things all by yourself... What a surprise.
Well, the European Parliament is probably not for you then, Danni!