Today, Sunday, June 9, culminates the largest electoral process historically held in the European Union, that of the European elections, from which the 720 members of the European Parliament from the 27 member states will be elected for a term of office over the next five years.

An electoral process that has started since Thursday, in the Netherlands, since Friday in Ireland and the Czech Republic, since yesterday, Saturday, in Latvia, Malta, Slovakia and Italy and since this morning in the rest of the countries, among them and in GREECE. The polls have opened at dawn, while the last ballot will close in Italy, today, at 24:00 Greek time, according to the official information from the EP services in Brussels.

It is estimated that around 360 million European citizens have the right to vote in these European elections, of which two million are young voters, aged 16 and 17, that is, they are called to vote for the first time.

Late tonight and until Monday morning, it is expected that the seats won by each national party will have been finalized, and it will remain the validation of the results, the counting of the crosses and the announcement of the names of those elected, based on the electoral system that applied by each Member State. Immediately afterwards, the names of those elected should be communicated to the European Parliament, in order to start the necessary procedures for the first plenary meeting, in which the European Parliament will be constituted as a House, in order to elect the president and the 14 vice presidents. The plenary session is set for July 16-19, in Strasbourg.

The minimum number of MEPs is 6 and the maximum is 96

Last year, the Council of the EU decided, with the consent of the EP, to increase the number of seats in the European Parliament to 720 for the 10th Parliamentary Period 2024-2029, i.e. an increase of 15 seats. The EP had 705 seats after the redistribution caused by the UK leaving the EU. It should be noted that EU law allows a maximum of 750 MEPs plus the President, and stipulates that the number of seats per country is decided before from the European elections. The distribution of seats takes into account the size of the population of the Member States, as well as the need for a minimum level of representation for European citizens from smaller countries (based on the principle of “decreasing proportionality” enshrined in the EU Treaty). However, the minimum number of MEPs per country is six and the maximum is 96.

So, after today’s European elections in June, France, Spain and the Netherlands will win two more seats, while one additional seat will be distributed to Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Finland.

Thus, the distribution of seats is as follows: Germany 96 seats, France 81, Italy 76, Spain 61, Poland 53, Romania 33, Netherlands 31, Belgium 22, Greece, Czech Republic, Sweden, Portugal and Hungary from 21, Austria 20, Bulgaria 17, Denmark, Finland, Slovakia from 15, Ireland 14, Croatia 12, Lithuania 11, Slovenia and Latvia from 9, Estonia 7 and Cyprus Malta and Luxembourg from 6 seats.

The political groups and their composition

MEPs are not organized in the EP based on their nationality, but their political position. Thus, immediately after their election, they will join one of the political groups that will be formed after the negotiations that will start tomorrow morning. We will know the exact number of political groups of the EP in the near future, as, in addition to the 7 groups that were formed during the last parliamentary term (2019-2024), new ones may also be formed due to European political processes.

However, in order to be officially recognized, a political group must notify the EP of its name, political manifesto and composition by July 15 (Article 33 of the EP Rules of Procedure), i.e. one day before the start of the Plenary. However, political groups can be formed later during the 5-year period.

The seven (7) political groups in the European Parliament in the period 2019-2024 were as follows: Parliamentary Group of the European People’s Party (EPP-Christian Democrats) (https://www.eppgroup.eu/), Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (https://www.socialistsanddemocrats.eu/), Renew Europe Group (https://www.reneweuropegroup.eu/), Greens Group/European Free Alliance (https://www.greens-efa.eu /en/), Group of European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) (https://ecrgroup.eu/), Identity and Democracy (ID) Group (https://www.idgroup.eu/) and Group of the Left in EK -GUE/NGL (https://left.eu/).

It should be noted that some MEPs may not wish to join a political group, so they will now belong to the so-called “Unregistered”, to whom the EP provides a special secretariat for the exercise of their duties.

The European Parliament does not normally need to assess the political affinity of the members of a political group. When MEPs form the group, they accept by default that they have a related political position. Only if the MEPs concerned do not accept it, the European Parliament must assess whether the composition of the group is in accordance with the provisions of the (EP) Rules of Procedure. The membership of an MEP in more than one political group is prohibited.

Each political group takes care of its internal organization by appointing a president (or, in some groups, two co-presidents), a bureau and a secretariat. Before each vote in the plenary, the political groups examine the reports of the parliamentary committees and submit amendments. The position of each political group is decided after discussion within the group, while MEPs cannot be forced to give a specific vote.

Specifically, the seats MEPs sit in the meeting room are decided based on their political affiliation, from left to right, after an agreement between the presidents of the groups. The heads of the political groups (presidents or co-presidents) always sit in the first row of the semicircle, whether they meet in Brussels or Strasbourg.

MEPs divide their time between their constituency, Strasbourg, where 12 plenary sessions are held each year (except August), and Brussels, where they attend additional sessions, as well as committee and political group meetings their.

Negotiations on the composition of the Committees

The political and legislative work of the European Parliament is “organized” into twenty permanent Committees and four Subcommittees, each of which elects a chairperson and up to four vice-chairpersons. The European Parliament can also set up temporary committees on specific issues and committees of inquiry to investigate infringements or cases of misapplication of Community law.

At the beginning of the new parliamentary term, the European Parliament decides which MEPs will participate in which Committees based on the preferences they express, but at the same time each Committee must reflect the overall political composition of the EP plenary. The negotiations to determine the positions will start from tomorrow morning, as special importance is attached to the political message sent by the choice of the persons who will mainly take over the presidencies of the Committees.

The Committees play a decisive role in policy-making, as they are responsible for preparing the positions of the European Parliament, especially with regard to new legislative proposals. In summary, committees amend legislative proposals through the adoption of reports, submit amendments to the plenary and appoint negotiating teams to carry out negotiations with the Council of the EU. They also adopt own-initiative reports, organize hearings of experts and monitor the work of other institutions and bodies of the EU. Committee meetings are public and broadcast over the internet.