What is at Stake in the Upcoming European Parliament Election

Brussels: Around 400 million European Union citizens go to polls next month to elect members of European Parliament, or MEPs, in one of biggest global democratic events. Far-right parties are seeking to gain more power amid a rise in cost of living and farmers' discontent, while wars in Gaza and Ukraine are on minds of voters. One of biggest questions is wher European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will remain in charge as most visible face of EU.

Here is a look at upcoming election and biggest issues at stake:

When is vote?

EU elections are held every five years across 27-member bloc. This year marks 10th parliamentary election since first polls in 1979, and first after Brexit. vote takes place from June 6-9. First results can only be revealed on evening of June 9, once polling stations have closed in all member states.

How voting works?

elections start on a Thursday in Nerlands and finish on a Sunday, when most countries hold ir election. voting is done by direct universal suffrage in a single ballot.

number of members elected in each country depends on size of population. It ranges from six for Malta, Luxembourg and Cyprus to 96 for Germany. In 2019, Europeans elected 751 lawmakers.

Following United Kingdom's departure from EU in 2020, number of MEPs fell to 705. Some of 73 seats previously held by British MEPs h been redistributed to or member states.

After election, European Parliament will have 15 ditional members, bringing total to 720. Twelve countries will get extra MEPs.

Elections are contested by national political parties, but once y are elected, most of lawmakers n join transnational political groups.

Who is voting?

People under 18 are allowed to vote in some countries. In Belgium, a law opted in 2022 lowered minimum voting age to 16. Germany, Malta and Austria are also permitting 16-year-olds to vote. In Greece, youngest voting age is 17. In all or member states, it's 18.

A minimum age is also required to stand for election — from 18 in most countries to 25 in Italy and Greece.

What about turnout?

European Union elections usually don't bring a huge turnout, but re was a clear upturn in public interest in 2019 election. At 50.7 per cent, turnout was eight points higher than in 2014 after steily falling since 1979, when it reached 62 per cent.

In April, latest edition of European Parliament’s Eurobarometer highlighted a surge of interest in upcoming election. Around 71 per cent of Europeans said y are likely to cast a ballot.

What are main issues?

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine is at forefront of citizens’ minds, with defence and security seen as key campaign issues. At national level, EU’s defence and security was mentioned first in nine countries.

economy, jobs, poverty and social exclusion, public health, climate change and future of Europe are also featuring prominently as issues.

What do EU lawmakers do?

European Parliament is only EU institution to be elected by European citizens. It’s a real counterpower to powerful EU’s executive arm, European Commission.

parliament doesn't have initiative of proposing legislation. But its powers are getting bigger. It is now competent on a wide range of topics, voting on laws relating to climate, banking rules, agriculture, fisheries, security or justice.

legislature also votes on EU budget, which is crucial to implementation of European policies, including, for instance, aid delivered to Ukraine.

Lawmakers are also a key element of check and balances system since y need to approve nomination of all EU commissioners, who are equivalent of ministers. And it can also force whole commission to resign with a vote by a two-third majority.

What's current makeup of Parliament?

With 176 seats out of 705 as of end of last plenary session in April, centre-right European People's Party is largest political group in European Parliament. Von der Leyen belongs to EPP and hopes to remain at helm of EU's executive arm after election.

second-largest group is S&D, political group of centre-left Party of European Socialists, which currently holds 139 seats. liberal and pro-European Renew group holds 102 seats ahe of an alliance me up of green and regionalist political parties that holds 72 seats.

Far right looks to make gains 

Two groups with far-right parties, European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and Identity and Democracy (ID), could be heed to becoming third- and fourth-largest political groups at European Parliament. two groups have many divergences and it's unclear to what extent y could team up and affect EU's agenda, especially EU's efforts to support Ukraine against Russia in war.

EPP and S&D are expected to remain stable. Liberals and greens could both take a hit after y me big gains at previous election.

What happens after election?

Once weight of each political force is determined, MEPs will elect ir president at first plenary session, from July 16-19. n, most likely in September after weeks of negotiations, y will nominate president of European Commission, following a proposal me by member states.

In 2019, von der Leyen won a narrow majority (383 votes in favor, 327 against, 22 abstentions) to become first woman to he institution. Parliamentarians will also hear from European commissioners before approving m in a single vote.

Von der Leyen has good chances to be appointed for anor team, but she needs to secure support of enough leers. She has also antagonised many lawmakers by suggesting she could work with hard right depending on outcome of elections.