The european elections determine the direction the European Union will take for the next five years, which is the length of each European legislature, but also our future: digitalization, the green transition, climate change or gender policies will be on the European agenda of the coming years, as researchers such as Raquel García (Real Instituto Elcano) and Carme Colomina (Barcelona Center for International Affairs, CIDOB) point out to laSexta.

What we choose and who we choose matters., since what is being voted on this time is the composition of the European Parliament; That is, the institution that represents the citizens of the community through the MEPs and that makes some of the most important decisions both for the community and for each of the countries that make it up. In total, this responsibility falls on 720 deputies—15 more than in the last legislature—. It is up to each country to vote for a number of representatives. Spain, for example, has been assigned 61 seats, of which it has the most representation in Parliament, but the one Germany has the most weight, with 96, followed by France, with 81, and Italy, with 76.

The number of seats that belongs to each region is set through the so-called “degressive proportionality system“, a set of principles that takes into account the number of inhabitants that each country has, changes in the number of Member States and demographic trends. Of course, always respecting the general balance of the institutional system. That is, no country can have more than 96 MEPs and not less than 6. In this way, the member states furthertowns accept being underrepresented to favor a greater representation of less populated states.

An important issue to take into account in this electoral event is that they occur in a international context very complicated, in which the disinformation and cyber attacks They are going to be very present in the previous days, as Colomina adds in the video that heads this article: “We are very exposed to contradictory visions about what the European Union is and it is difficult to know what is true and what is not,” he points out. Misinformation that usually leads to demobilization, something that worries the EU, which is why it has focused its campaign on motivate the voteespecially the young one.

How to vote in the European elections

When voters go to the polls the next sunday june 9 (or those who have already done by mail or in others countries on their corresponding date) will be choosing the 61 MEPs who will represent the interests of the Spanish people from Brussels. The way to select the vote is through a ballot, which includes one of closed lists that are presented. Each training that has submitted its candidacy The European elections have a ballot with the names and surnames of their candidates (ordered by priority of entry into the chamber) so that when voting for a party in Spain, the entire list is voted on without the possibility of ordering the candidates —In other countries the voting system is different—.

Depending on the votes each party receives, a greater or lesser number of the names on its closed lists will become part of the European Parliament. The names that are highest on the lists They are more likely to enter the chamber, in the event that the political party obtains enough votes. Those proper names would take part in the most important decisions of the European Union. But they would do it within European political groupsbecause once in the chamber, the MEPs grouped by political affinities so that each formation must be “made up of deputies elected in at least a quarter of the member states and have a minimum of 25 deputies”.

  • These are all the candidates you can vote for in Spain
  • The 34 parties running for the European elections in 2024

What decisions does the European Parliament make?

“The majority of decisions that are approved in the Cortes Generales come from European decisions,” says Raquel García. And it is the aforementioned political groups that are in charge of vote for European legislationreview the work programs of the European Commission, approve budgetscheck that the EU institutions function democratically, vote for community expansions and cooperate with national bodies. To distribute the political and legislative work, the deputies organize themselves into commissions. Each one is specialized in a field, as stated on the website of the European Parliament committees. Some are fixed and others are created to deal with certain specific situations, as in the case of Covid-19:

  • Foreign Affairs
  • Human rights
  • Security and Defense
  • Development
  • International Trade
  • Budgets
  • Budget Control
  • Economic and Monetary Affairs
  • Tax Matters
  • Employment and Social Affairs
  • Environment, Public Health and Food Safety
  • Public health
  • Industry, Research and Energy
  • Internal Market and Consumer Protection
  • Transport and Tourism
  • Regional Development
  • Fishing
  • Culture and Education
  • Legal issues
  • Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
  • Constitutional Matters
  • Women’s Rights and Gender Equality
  • Requests
  • Fight against cancer
  • COVID-19 pandemic
  • Special Commission on Foreign Interference and Disinformation, and Strengthening Integrity in the EP
  • Artificial Intelligence in the Digital Age
  • Protection of Animals during Transport
  • Use of the Pegasus Surveillance Spy Program and Other Equivalent Programs

When approving European laws, the committees and Parliament has an active role that is reflected in the procedure to follow:

  • First of all, the European Comission is in charge of drafting the legislative proposals to subsequently present them to the European Parliament and to Council of the European Unionwhich represents the governments of the member states through the ministers sent by each country according to the matter to be discussed.
  • Immediately afterwards, the committees examine proposals and, if required, it modifies them to vote on them at the meetings and subsequently present a report to Parliament.
  • The Parliament and the Council of the European Union reach an agreement that is reflected in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This is how most laws related to economic and monetary issues, immigration, energy, agriculture, fishing, transportation, environment and consumer protection are carried out. These standards, once approved, become part of the national legislation of member states. That is to say, the composition of the European Parliament after the elections will be conclusive when deciding not only the European route but also that of each of the countries that make up the European Union.