Every five years EU citizens choose who represents them in the European Parliament, the directly-elected institution that defends their interests in the EU decision-making process.
Countries in the EU have different voting traditions and each one may decide on the exact election day within a four-day span, from Thursday to Sunday (when most countries hold their elections).
The allocation of seats is laid down in the European treaties. It takes into account the size of the population of each country, with smaller countries getting more seats than strict proportionality would imply. |