Landmark European elections in 2024
In Germany and the other EU member states, European elections will be held in early June 2024. Answers to key questions about these landmark elections.
In the global super-election year of 2024, in which for example US presidential elections will be held, important elections will also take place in Germany: Besides the regional elections in the eastern Germanstates of Saxony, Brandenburg and Thuringia, attention will be focused in particular on the European elections. The outcome of the elections taking place in the 27 EU states in early June will determine the future development of the European Union. Germany is committed to far-reaching EU reforms. We answer the most important questions about the 2024 European elections and the future of the European Union.
When will the next European elections be held in Germany?
Citizens in Germany will be going to the polls on 9 June 2024. The period 6 to 9 June, i.e. from Thursday to Sunday, has been set for the European elections in the member states. Though voting in most countries generally takes place on Sundays, as is the case in Germany, there are exceptions: in the Netherlands, for example, people traditionally go to the polls on a Thursday.
How often are European elections held?
The European Parliament (EP) is elected every five years. The first European elections were held in 1979, so June 2024 will see Europeans electing their parliament for the tenth time. They are the world’s biggest transnational elections.
How many citizens are eligible to vote?
In Germany, more than 66 million EU citizens can decide on the composition of the EU Parliament; in the union as a whole, around 350 million people are eligible to vote. In Germany, Belgium, Malta and Austria, EU citizens aged 16 or older can vote, while the minimum age is 17 in Greece and 18 in the other member states.
How many members does the EU Parliament have?
The European Parliament has a total of 705 members (MEPs) from the 27 member states. The number of seats is determined by the size of the respective country’s population. Germany has 96 seats in the European Parliament.
How significant are the European elections?
Over the past decades, the powers of the European Parliament have been continuously expanded. MEPs play a central role in EU legislative processes, for example. The EP also controls the European Commission, and a new Commission has to be approved by a majority of MEPs. Since 2019, Ursula von der Leyen from Germany has been the Commission’s president. Because of its powers, the European Parliament also plays a key role in the EU’s further development.
Which challenges does the European Union face?
The global crises and conflicts pose an enormous challenge to the EU, and this applies especially to its support for Ukraine,which is under attack from Russia. Ukraine is keen to become a member of the EU; other accession candidates include the countries of the Western Balkans. Partly because the EU is expected to grow to more than 30 members in the coming years, reforms are believed to be vital.
What is the German government’s position on EU reforms?
Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is pushing for far-reaching reforms to make the EU future-proof. “Right now, we need strength to swim together against these swirling currents of crisis,” she said at a European conference hosted by the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin in November. She said the EU should draw up a roadmap of key reforms that could be implemented in the course of the next legislative term of the European Parliament and against the background of the enlargement debate.
In view of the expected enlargement of the EU, Baerbock stressed: “Growing larger doesn’t automatically mean growing stronger. We’ll only achieve that with reforms that strengthen our structures, our foundations, within the EU.” She also warned among other things against just letting the European Parliament and Commission get bigger and bigger. This might even mean that Germany would have to be prepared to do without a commissioner for a while, she added.
The foreign minister presented a whole host of other reform proposals. Especially young people should be enabled to enjoy the benefits of the EU even before their countries become full members, she said. Study programmes such as Erasmus scholarships should be expanded, Baerbock believes. With these and other reform steps, she wants to create an EU “that, in this geopolitical world, is not just larger but, above all, stronger.”
