General Information
At stake in this election:
- 626 seats in the European Parliament
Description of government structure:
- Chief of State: President of the European Commission Manuel MARIN *
- Head of Government: NA NA
- Assembly: European Union has a unicameral European Parliament with 626 seats.
* The European Commission is composed of 20 commissioners nominated by the member states and confirmed by the European Parliament. The Commission is charged with the initiation and implementation of EU policies.
The European Council is composed of the heads of state or government of all European Union member states and serves as the Union's chief decision-making body.
Description of electoral system:
- The President of the European Commission is designated by member governments.
- In the European Parliament 626 members are allocated to serve 5-year terms.***
*** The type of electoral system used to select Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) varies in each member state. In general, proportional representation systems are used in all EU member states except the Republic of Ireland, which uses the single transferable vote (STV), and the United Kingdom, which uses a simple majority system or