Why European Elections Matter, Who Can Vote, About Main Political Groups, What It Means For India – News18

The European Union (EU) – the bloc of 27 countries – will take place from June 6-9, in which citizens will elect their representatives as Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). Around 400 million eligible voters will elect the next European Parliament, which is the direct link between Europeans and the EU’s institutions.

How Important Is EU Parliament?

The EU Parliament forms the laws and policies by amending and passing laws and deciding on international agreements. It must endorse the EU’s annual budget, and it can ask the Commission to propose legislation.

MEPs oversee the work of the Commission and Council, which is the EU’s executive branch. They share responsibility with the Council for adopting laws put forward by the Commission. Most MEPs sit in political groups ranging from left to right, rather than by nationality, so they often have juggle allegiances to party or country, as per the BBC.

MEPs put important political, economic and social topics in the spotlight and uphold the values of the European Union: respect for human rights, freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law, as per the EU website.

How Voting Will Start?

Voting begins on June 6 in the Netherlands, followed by Ireland and Malta on the following day and Latvia and Slovakia on Saturday. Many EU member states vote on June 9.

Most voting takes place on one day although Czechs have Friday and Saturday to cast their ballots; Italy votes on Saturday and Sunday. Belgians are not just voting in European elections on Sunday, but in national and regional elections too.

In most European countries, the voting age begins at 18, but 16-year-olds can vote in Germany, Austria, Belgium and Malta, while in Greece the minimum age is 17.

The average turnout in 2019 was 50.7%.

UK took part in the last European elections before leaving the EU. Some of its seats have since been redistributed or kept in reserve if the EU expands.

How Many MEPs Are Elected?

A total of 720 MEPs will be elected in June, 15 more compared to the previous elections. As a general rule, the number of MEPs is decided before each election. The total cannot exceed 750 plus the president.

The number of MEPs elected from each European country are as follows:

Germany: 96

France: 81

Italy: 76

Spain: 61

Poland: 53

Romania: 33

Netherlands: 31

Belgium: 22

Greece: 21

Czechia: 21

Sweden: 21

Portugal: 21

Hungary: 21

Austria: 20

Bulgaria: 17

Denmark: 15

Finland: 15

Slovakia: 15

Ireland: 14

Croatia: 12

Lithuania: 11

Slovenia: 9

Latvia: 9

Estonia: 7

Cyprus: 6

Luxembourg: 6

Malta: 6

What Are The Main Political Groups?

The two biggest groups are the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) and centre-left Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D). Other groups include liberal Renew Europe and Greens European Free Alliance, which were the biggest in the last Parliament.

They are the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and the Identity and Democracy (ID) group.

Appointing New EU Commission Chief

The new MEPs will first elect the president of the European Commission. The current president, Ursula von der Leyen, is seeking re-election. The EU’s 27 heads of state or government — the European Council, will factor in election results and then nominate a candidate, whose name is then presented to Parliament. More than 50% of MEPs will have to approve the candidate.

Five years ago, the EU’s national leaders decided on von der Leyen, even though she was not a candidate.

Why EU is Important for India?

The new European Parliament will shape up policies on climate change, migration, nationalism, trade and other international issues for the next five years.

India and EU share concerns on several topics from pandemic to climate change, economic security, trade and digitalisation.

While merchandise exports from the EU have increased from US$12.6 billion in 2000 to US$46.3 billion in 2021, their rate of growth is not fast enough to significantly diversify the EU’s economic relations, as per Observer Research Foundation (ORF). Most EU services exports to India have been growing in absolute and relative terms.

EU imports from India more than tripled in the 2000s – but increased at a slower rate, from US$44 billion to US$54 billion, between 2010 and 2019. Since 2010, India’s share in the EU’s import basket has stagnated, compared to the growing share of EU imports that come from China. Imports of telecommunications and IT services from India already surpass those from China, as per ORF.

The EU launched its ‘EU-India Strategic Partnership: A Roadmap to 2025’ in 2020, which has been rescheduled for early 2025. This will lay down the five-year roadmap for the EU-India ties and address the shared concern over rising Chinese power.

Diplomatically, the ties between India and EU are recovering on the backdrop of the 2022 Ukraine war. India’s long-standing ties to Russia left many Europeans peeved, however, external affairs minister S Jaishankar argued that “Europe has to grow out of the mindset that Europe’s problems are the world’s problems, but the world’s problems are not Europe’s problems,” and called out Europeans for their foreign policy double standards.

Common concerns about China provide a more promising basis for renewed EU-India dialogue, as per an article on European Council on Foreign Affairs Relations (ECFR).