In the European elections from June 6 to 9, citizens in the 27 EU member states are called upon to elect a new European Parliament. The more than 700 members of parliament pass laws at EU level, approve the EU budget and elect the President and members of the EU Commission.
The number of parliamentarians will increase from 705 to 720 compared to the previous election in 2019. Germany, as the most populous member state, will continue to be represented in parliament with 96 seats.
Of the 448 million inhabitants of the EU, all adult EU citizens are allowed to vote. In Germany, 16 and 17 year olds are also entitled to vote for the first time. This is also the case in Austria, Malta and Belgium, and in Greece the minimum voting age is 17 years.
According to estimates by the Federal Statistical Office, up to 64.9 million people are eligible to vote in Germany, including an estimated 60.9 million Germans and 4.1 million EU citizens. They can decide whether to exercise their right to vote in the European Parliament in Germany or in their home member state.
In the polls for the European elections in Germany, the CDU and CSU are well ahead. In a survey by the opinion research institute Insa on behalf of “Bild am Sonntag”, the Union received 29 percent. The AfD followed in second place with 16 percent. The SPD was at 14 percent, the Greens at 13 percent. The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW) received seven percent, the FDP four, and the Left and Free Voters each three percent. All other parties could expect 11 percent of the vote.
There is still no threshold in Germany for the 2024 European elections. Therefore, smaller and other parties could also be represented in parliament. From 2029, a threshold of two percent is to be introduced.
In the 2019 European elections, the CDU and CSU received 28.9 percent, with the Greens in second place with 20.5 percent. The SPD was at 15.8 percent, ahead of the AfD with 11 percent. The Left followed with 5.5 percent and the FDP with 5.4 percent. The satirical party Die Partei (2.4 percent), the Free Voters (2.2 percent), the Animal Protection Party (1.4 percent), the ÖDP (1.0 percent), the Pirates (0.7 percent), the Family Party (0.7 percent) and Volt (0.7 percent) also entered the EU Parliament.
Based on current surveys, economist Cornelius Hirsch has calculated a possible distribution of the 92 German seats after the 2024 European elections. According to this, the CDU/CSU (EPP group in the European Parliament) could gain two additional seats with 31 seats. The AfD would also improve from 11 to 17 seats. However, the party was recently excluded from the Identity and Democracy (ID) group.
Die SPD (S
The Sahra Wagenknecht alliance could enter the European Parliament for the first time with six MPs. It is unclear which faction the BSW will join – the Left faction has already declared that it does not want to accept BSW. The Free Voters (Renew Europe), who currently have two MPs, could expect to gain another seat. The economist also expects that the Animal Protection Party (Left) will be represented in the EU Parliament with two MPs (one mandate in 2019), and the satirical party “Die Partei” (non-attached) will be represented with one MP (two in 2019).
Germany’s 96 seats in the European Parliament are currently distributed as follows: CDU/CSU 29 seats, Greens 21 seats, SPD 16 seats, AfD 11 seats, Left and FDP five seats each, Free Voters and The Party two seats each, Animal Protection, ÖDP, Pirates, Family and Volt one seat each.
After the election, the EU Parliament will also decide on the composition of the new EU Commission. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is seeking a second term in office. Her record so far has been assessed differently by the population.
In the RTL/n-tv trend barometer of the opinion research institute Forsa on June 4, half of those surveyed (48 percent) believe that, all in all, von der Leyen has performed her office well or very well over the past five years. 42 percent, on the other hand, believe that von der Leyen has performed her office less well or poorly.
Only a minority (38 percent) would be in favor of von der Leyen remaining President of the EU Commission for another five years. 51 percent are against a second term. This view is shared even by a quarter (27 percent) of those who say she has done a good job over the past five years.
Voter turnout in the 27 EU countries could be higher this time than in 2019. According to a survey by the Bertelsmann Foundation, around 60 percent of Europeans want to participate. That would be significantly more than in 2019, when voter turnout in the EU was 51 percent (Germany: 61 percent).
In the survey of 13,300 citizens in all 27 EU countries, a further 25 percent said they “maybe” would vote and 15 percent said they did not want to take part in the election.