FFAQ:


Gains and losses

The difference in seats (won/lost) refers to the distribution of seats at the end of the current 9th legislative period. A comparison with the beginning of the legislative period would be inappropriate due to the UK's withdrawal from the EU in the meantime.

Gains or losses in percentage points of the individual EU political groups refer to the comparison with the 2019 election.


RE - Renew Europe did not yet exist in this form at the 2019 election, so this group can only gain percentage points in the current election, but it can lose seats compared to the outgoing parliament.


Dear colleagues,


we are pleased that you have decided to use our widgets for the 2024 European elections. On this page, we provide you with information about our widgets and the election itself.


TABLE OF CONTENTS


General information on the election


The EU-parliament of the outgoing 9th legislative period consisted of 705 MEPs. The future Parliament will have 720 MEPs (France, the Netherlands, Spain each plus 2 MEPs; Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Austria, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia each plus one MEP). The number of 96 MEPs from Germany will remain unchanged. In order to have a parliamentary majority in future, 361 seats will be required.


The electoral rules of the 27 EU member states are not standardised, as there are countries with compulsory voting (Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, Luxembourg) as well as different (or no) thresholds. Due to different election dates in the EU countries, the election itself will take place over a period of several days, but results will only be published from 9 June. 


The 2024 election will be the tenth election to the EP since the first election in 1979 and the first European election since the Brexit, the UK's withdrawal from the Union.


General information on the election in Germany


From Germany, 35 parties and other political organisations with lists (for all or only for some  federal states) are registered for the election. Only the “Union” of CDU and CSU is running with separate lists for each federal state (CDU 15 state lists plus CSU in Bavaria).


Every voter in Germany has one vote to choose a party's list. It is not possible to change the order of candidates on the lists or to vote directly for a particular candidate.  


According to estimates by the German Federal Statistical Office, around 60.9 million Germans will be eligible to vote, including 4.8 million first-time voters. Around 4.1 million citizens of other EU member states living in Germany will also be able to vote. The voting age for the election in Germany will be 16 for the first time.


General information on the EP


The European-Parliament is the only directly elected institution of the EU - and the only directly elected transnational institution in the world. 


Together with the Council, the Parliament decides e.g. on the EU-budget (2024: €189.4 billion commitments; €142.6 billion for payments). At the same time, the Council and Parliament share the legislative function of the EU.     


The Parliament also oversees the work of the EU-Commission, the executive branch of the Union consisting of 27 members - one commissioner per member state. The President of the Commission (Ursula von der Leyen since December 2019) is also elected by the Parliament following a proposal by the Council.


Members of Parliament are directly elected every five years by the voters of the EU member states. Germany has the largest number of MEPs with 96 seats, followed by France (81) and Italy (76). Luxembourg, Malta and Cyprus have the fewest MEPs (6 each). The official seat of the EP is Strasbourg.  


Groups in the EP


Regardless of their nationality, the MEPs of the EP have formed groups whose members have a similar political orientation. To form a political group at least 23 MEPs from at least seven different EU member states are required. 


In addition to the groups, there are European-parties, some of which have names very similar to those of the groups. These European-parties are alliances of national parties from EU member states. The EP-groups are normally made up of EP-parties, but national parties can also be part of a group without belonging to an EU-party. Members of a European party can belong to different political groups, but the individual MEPs can only belong to one group at a time. 


Example: The S&D group consists of the EP-party PES (Party of European Socialists), which is made up of more than 30 socialist or social-democratic parties from across the EU. There are also MEPs in the S&D Group who do not belong to any EP-party.    


At the end of the 9th legislative period, the EP consists of seven political groups and non-attached Members. 



The parliamentary groups in alphabetical order:


ECR

European Conservatives and Reformists Group



EPP 

European People`s Party



Greens/EFA

The Greens-European Free Alliance



ID 

ID Group - Identity and Democracy


Renew Europe

Renew Europe Group 


S&D 

Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament



The Left

The Left group in den European Parliament - GUE/NGL




NA 

non-attached



Schedule of the Election


June 3rd

Start of e-voting in Estonia and advance voting in at least one designated voting district in each rural municipality (till June 9th)


June 6th

Netherlands (31 seats, no electoral threshold)


June 7th

Ireland (14 seats, no electoral threshold)


June 7th/8th

Czech Republic (21 seats, 5-%-threshold)


June 8th

Latvia (9 seats, 5-%-threshold)

Malta (6 seats, no electoral threshold)

Slovakia (15 seats, 5-%-threshold)


June 8th/9th

Italy (76 seats, 4-%-threshold)


June 9th

Austria (20 seats, 4-%-threshold)

Belgium (22 seats, no electoral threshold, compulsory voting)

Bulgaria (17 seats, no electoral threshold, compulsory voting)

Croatia (12 seats, 5-%-threshold)

Cyprus (6 seats, 1.8-%-threshold)

Denmark (15 seats, no electoral threshold)

Estonia (7 seats, no electoral threshold)

Finland (15 seats, no electoral threshold)

France (81 seats, 5-%-threshold)

Germany (96 seats, no electoral threshold)

Greece (21 seats, 3-%-threshold, compulsory voting)

Hungary (21 seats, 5-%-threshold)

Lithuania (11 seats, 5-%-threshold)

Luxembourg (6 seats, no electoral threshold, compulsory voting)

Poland (53 seats, 5-%-threshold)

Portugal (21 seats, no electoral threshold)

Romania (33 seats, 5-%-threshold)

Slovenia (9 seats, no blocking clause)

Spain (61 seats, no electoral threshold)

Sweden (21 seats, 4-%-threshold)



Schedule of results



With the Netherlands (election on June 6th), Ireland (June 7th), the Czech Republic (June 7/8th), Latvia, Malta and Slovakia, voters in six EU countries will be able to cast their votes before the "main election day" on June 9th. 


However, the election results for the above-mentioned countries will not be published before June 9th.


On the evening of 9 June you are expected to receive:

  • from 6.00 pm CEST a forecast (based on pre-election polls) from ARD for the EP

  • from 6.15 pm CEST initial EU forecasts for individual EU countries

  • at 8 pm customers from Denmark will receive exit polls from danish TV2.

  • between 8.15 pm CEST and 8.45 pm CEST, an initial projection by the EU regarding the coming distribution of seats in the EUP based on available national data 

  • No interim results from the EU member states may be published before 11.00 pm CEST!

  • The EU seat projections will be updated during the night when the national estimates - and after 11.00 pm CEST the national results (published by the national electoral authorities) - are available in the member states. Preliminary overall results are expected to be published after 11:30 pm.

  • Between 2.00 am CEST and 03.00 am CEST. the EU will probably suspend the announcement of results until the early morning ! 



THE WIDGETS IN DETAIL


IMPORTANT: The following sample screenshots of the widgets do not always show the final layout! Details of the presentation as well as titles and info texts can still be changed. Some of the displayed percentages and numbers of MPs are still test data.


Widget: Europe - who votes when?


The widget provides a chronological overview of the election days of all EU-states, including information on the number of future members of the EP. The opening hours of the polling stations displayed in the widget correspond to the local (computer) time of the widget user.      




Widget: Europe - Seats of the outgoing parliament


The widget shows the size of the political groups in the EP at the end of the 9th legislative period. 




Widget: Europe - groups, parties and seats 


The widget shows the political groups in the EP by their number of seats. Clicking on the menu arrow on the right shows the national member parties of the group and the respective number of their elected MEPs.


All parties running for election but not represented in the outgoing Parliament are listed under "Others". Which political group a new party elected to the EP will join will not be known until the constituent session on July 16th.



 


Within the parliamentary groups, the parties are sorted by seat by default. If the number of seats is the same, they are sorted alphabetically by country. The sorting can also be reversed.



Widget: Map - EU members


The widget shows a map of the European Union. The individual countries and their respective election results can either be clicked on the map or selected from the drop-down menu.




Widget: EU - members


The widget shows the percentage results in the member-states.



Widget: EU total - distribution of seats


The widget shows the distribution of seats in the EP by political group in graphical and list form. The political groups are sorted by default according to the number of seats, or alphabetically if the number of seats is the same. The sorting can be reversed.


The difference in seats (won/lost) refers to the distribution of seats at the end of the current 9th legislative period. A comparison with the beginning of the legislative period would be inappropriate due to the UK's withdrawal from the Union in the meantime.


 




Widget: EU total - percentages of votes


The widget shows the percentages and gains/losses of the EP-groups compared to the 2019 election.   



Widget: EU total - percentages of votes (horizontal bar)


The widget largely corresponds to the "EU total - percentages" widget. The respective comparison results are also displayed.   



Widget: EU total - gains/losses


The widget shows the gains and losses of the EU-groups compared to the 2019 election.


API


FAQs and important information for our API customers are available in a separate document:


 http://dpaq.de/38mej



IMPORTANT: The content of this FAQ will be changed or supplemented as required!


Contact

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us Monday to Friday between 9.00 a.m. and 5.00 p.m. via our Service Desk; by e-mail at service@dpa-info.com

or by phone, +49 40 - 4113 31000