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Agri-Press
12 Apr 2024

EP | Weekly election highlights

 

As we approach the European Elections in June, Parliament's press services will be publishing a weekly newsletter, highlighting the main election-related news of the week so that you don't miss anything or need a reminder of what information is available and where to find it. The Newsletter will be published each Friday until 7 June.

 

Mark your calendars

  • This year’s Spring Eurobarometer, which measures how EU citizens feel about European issues, will be presented to the press on Tuesday 16 April with publication scheduled for 17 April.
  • The last plenary of the legislature will take place 22-25 April in Strasbourg, with a very full agenda.
  • A press briefing will take place on Monday 29 April in Brussels, to explain the next steps, resources available for journalists in the last phase before elections, as well as insights into the institutional communication before elections.
  • A debate between the lead candidates will take place in Parliament on Thursday 23 May.

 

“Remind me to vote”

#useyourvote - The European elections website gives citizens and journalists a country-specific information on how to vote in all 24 official EU languages. The website has recorded more than one million visits since its launch.

 

More MEPs after elections

There will be 15 additional MEPs divided between 12 countries after this year’s elections to adapt to demographic changes in Europe, bringing the total number of MEPs to 720. See the full distribution and more.

 

Improving the EU’s resilience against disinformation

Several pieces of legislation were adopted in this term to build resilience to disinformation and foreign interference in the EU. These include the Digital Services Act; the Digital Markets Act; new transparency rules for political advertising; the Artificial Intelligence Act, and the Media Freedom Act.

 

Good to know

False and misleading information circulating online and offline is seen as the most serious threat to democracy by 38% of EU citizens according to the European Commission’s Eurobarometer Democracy survey from March 2023. 68% EU citizens also thought they had been exposed to disinformation in recent days.

Disinformation often works by playing on strong emotions such as anger, fear or excitement - on this topic, watch “the emotion trap”, the first episode of the European Parliament’s new video series on disinformation.

 

How are free and fair elections ensured?

National elections authorities, supported by the EU institutions, work to ensure that the European elections are free and fair. Together, they strive to defend the elections against various threats such as information manipulation, cyberattacks, data braches and hybrid threats.

 

Tools for the Press

Who are the lead candidates? What happens on election days and night and after the European elections? The Press Tool Kit contains this information and much more.