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EUROPE VOTES
🔴 Live: Voters head to polls in closely watched elections for the European Parliament
Millions of voters across the European Union’s 27 member countries head to the polls on Sunday to elect 720 members of the European Parliament, the world’s only popularly elected multinational legislature. Follow our liveblog for all the latest on the closely watched election.
Issued on: 09/06/2024 – 07:55
1 min
A tram covered with European election slogans passes the European Parliament building in Strasbourg on June 6, 2024.
A tram covered with European election slogans passes the European Parliament building in Strasbourg on June 6, 2024. © Sebastien Bozon, AFP
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FRANCE 24
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FRANCE 24
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) decide which laws apply across the European Union – from environmental regulation to migration to security policy – as well as approve the EU budget and monitor how money is spent.
Each country’s representation at the European Parliament is based on population, with the most seats allocated to Germany with 96 seats and France with 81. At the other end of the spectrum, Cyprus, Luxembourg and Malta hold six seats each.
The vast majority of the EU’s 360 million eligible voters will vote on Sunday, although several countries, including the Netherlands, Ireland, the Czech Republic and Italy, began voting earlier. Results are expected Sunday evening.
The turnout for EU elections is generally low, but the last elections in 2019 showed the first uptick in 30 years with a turnout of 50.7 percent.
LIVE
31 minutes ago
Mainland France begins voting in EU elections
Polling stations opened in mainland France on Sunday for EU elections in which the far-right National Rally is predicted to inflict a heavy defeat on President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist grouping.
More than 49 million voters are eligible to elect 81 French lawmakers to the European Parliament following a campaign dominated by the rise of the far right in many of the bloc’s member countries.
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an hour ago
Polls open in 20 EU countries as voting for the European Parliament enters its final day
Polls have opened in 20 European Union countries, from Sweden and Lithuania in the north to Portugal and Cyprus in the south, as voters choose their representatives for the next five-year term of the European Parliament.
Unofficial estimates are due to be released from 1615 GMT, but official results cannot be published before the last polling stations in the 27 EU nations close late Sunday evening.
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an hour ago
Decision time as France, Germany headline EU vote finale
The final – and by far biggest – day of EU elections started Sunday with voting due in 21 member countries, including France and Germany, where support for surging far-right parties is being tested.
Polling stations opened in Greece and a string of other member states along the European Union’s eastern edge, with voting elsewhere set to begin shortly.
It is a crucial time for Europe. The continent is confronted with the war in Ukraine, global trade and industrial tensions marked by US-China rivalry, a climate emergency and a West that within months may have to adapt to a new Donald Trump presidency.
The vote outcome will determine the bloc’s next parliament and indirectly the makeup of the powerful European Commission – thus helping to shape European Union policies over the coming five years.
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European elections
Click for more coverage of the European elections © FMM graphics studio
