The European Parliament is one of the legislative chambers of the European Union and the only one directly elected by the citizens of the union. The chamber has power over some of the decisions that are made in the European Union, but how is it elected, and who can run for office?

Number of seats in parliament

The number of seats in the European Parliament is not divided between the member states based on how many citizens they each have, but rather per degressive proportionality. This means that smaller member states have more members of parliament than the larger member states. These numbers have changes with various treaties and other events in the Union, such as Brexit. The smallest member states (Malta, Cyprus, and Luxembourg) each have 6 MEPs, while Germany has 96 MEPs.

The number of seats in the European Parliament is described in the treaties.

National elections

The European Parliament is elected by the citizens of the union. Each country has a set number of MEPs that they elect to represent them. The rules for the election to the parliament differs from member state to member state, although there are common rules that apply. Things that could differ from country to country is the ability to cast a vote via mail or from abroad. The date of the elections also differ, where it was between 23 and 26 of May in the 2019 election.

Each member state then hold elections to the parliament, with the national parties contesting for the seats. The rules for being able to candidate are also different from country to country, as well as the threshold. Once elected, many of the MEPs choose to affiliate themselves with a transnational party, where their national party often is a member already.

The age where citizens can vote and candidate also differs. For voting, most states have a minimum age of 18, except for Greece where you have to be 17, and Malta and Austria where you have to be 16. The age to candidate differs a bit more.

After the election

A lot of things take place after the elections have been held. First, the new members will form groups and constitute themselves. After this, the members will meet in a plenary sitting to elect the president and vice-presidents of the European Parliament, as well as vote on the size of the standing and sub committees. These committees will later convene.

The parliament will also elect a president of the European Commission, where the candidate is proposed by the European Council. They will also elect the commissioners to the Commission from the proposals of the President-Elect.