Voters across the European Union have been voting on the final day of European Parliamentary elections to choose their representatives for the next five-year term.
Polls opened in 20 EU countries early Sunday for the June 6-9 elections for a new European Parliament, the legislative branch of the 27-member bloc.
Millions of Europeans have been casting their ballots this week in one of the world’s biggest democratic elections. Far-right parties are looking to gain more power amid a rise in the cost of living and farmers’ discontent, while the wars in Gaza and Ukraine are also key topics weighing on the minds of voters.
The economy, jobs, poverty and social exclusion, public health, climate change and the future of Europe are also prominent issues.
Official results are not expected before the last polling stations in all 27 EU nations close late Sunday.
In Austria for instance, the far-right Freedom Party is the likely winner of the ballot, according to a poll based on surveys carried out over the past week and published as voting there closed on Sunday evening.
A young woman wearing a traditional costume with a “Bollenhut” pompon hat, typical for the Black Forest region, casts her vote in Gutach, Germany. AFP
The European Parliament’s expected move to the right means the assembly may be less enthusiastic on policies to address climate change while eager on measures to limit immigration to the EU, a bloc of 450 million citizens.
The parliament could also be more fragmented, which would make adopting any measure trickier and slower as the EU confronts challenges including a hostile Russia and increased industrial rivalry from China and the United States.
“I don’t always agree with the decisions that Europe takes,” 89-year-old retiree Paule Richard said after voting in Paris. “But I still hope that there will be a reckoning in all European countries, so that Europe can be a unified bloc and look in the same direction.”
Voting began on Thursday in the Netherlands and in other countries on Friday and Saturday, but the bulk of EU votes will be cast on Sunday, with France, Germany, Poland and Spain opening their polls and Italy holding a second day of voting. The European Parliament votes legislation that is key for citizens and businesses in the 27-nation EU.
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni arrives at the polling station to vote for the European elections in Rome. AFP
But for many years, voters across the bloc have complained that EU decision-making is complex, distant and disconnected from daily realities, which explains often low turnout in EU elections.
“People don’t know who really has the power, between the Commission and Parliament,” another French voter, Emmanuel, said in a northern Paris polling station. “And it’s true that it raises questions and breeds mistrust which today might not exist if things were clearer,” the 34-year old programmer said.
The centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) is projected in opinion polls to remain the European Parliament’s largest group, putting its candidate to head the European Commission, incumbent Ursula von der Leyen of Germany, in pole position for a second term.
However, she may need support from some right-wing nationalists, such as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy, to secure a parliamentary majority, giving Meloni and allies more leverage.
A projection by Europe Elects pollster on Sunday showed the EPP could gain five seats compared to the last parliament to win a total of 183. The Socialists, who include German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s party, are seen losing four seats to get 136.
European Greens, facing a backlash from hard-pressed households, farmers and industry over costly EU policies limiting CO2 emissions, look set to be among the big losers with the poll on Sunday giving them only 56 deputies, a loss of 15.
Forecasts for the liberal group Renew Europe are also grim, given the expectation that Marine Le Pen’s far-right Rassemblement National will trounce French President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Renaissance in France.
The Sunday poll put the Renew group’s losses at 13 seats, forecasting it will end up with 89.
In contrast, the poll said the national-conservative ECR was likely to get five more deputies for a total of 73 and the far-right ID group could get eight more seats for a total of 67.
American Dollar Exchange Rate