The European Parliament election will take place over four days, from June 6th to 9th, 2024.

At Stake in this Election:

• All 720 seats in the European Union Parliament

Several EU member states will also hold national elections (Belgian Chamber of Representatives, Bulgarian National Assembly) and local elections (Belgium, Cyprus, Ireland, Malta, Hungary, Romania).

Government Structure:

• Chief of State: European Commission President Ursula VON DER LEYEN (since 1 December 2019)
• Head of Government: President of the European Council Charles MICHEL (since 1 December 2019)
• Assembly: two legislative organs; the European Parliament (705 seats as of April 2024) and the Council of the European Union (27 seats)

Electoral System:

• The Council of the European Union is composed of heads of state or government from each of the 27 EU member states.
• Member states may choose their own electoral systems for European Parliament elections so long as they are based on proportional representation or the single transferable vote. Members serve 5-year renewable terms. By law, Parliament may contain up to 750 seats, and each member state is allocated 6 to 96 seats depending on its population. Seats are reapportioned each election, and 720 members will be elected in 2024 according to the following country divisions:
  • Germany: 96 seats
  • France: 81
  • Italy: 76
  • Spain: 61
  • Poland: 53
  • Romania: 33
  • Netherlands: 31
  • Belgium: 22
  • Greece: 21
  • Czechia: 21
  • Sweden: 21
  • Portugal: 21
  • Hungary: 21
  • Austria: 20
  • Bulgaria: 17
  • Denmark: 15
  • Finland: 15
  • Slovakia: 15
  • Ireland: 14
  • Croatia: 12
  • Lithuania: 11
  • Slovenia: 9
  • Latvia: 9
  • Estonia: 7
  • Cyprus: 6
  • Luxembourg: 6
  • Malta: 6

Last Election:

In 2019, the European People’s Party (Christian Democrats) won the largest share of seats with 182. Voter turnout was 50.97%.

Information for Voters:

How to vote (available in 24 languages)

New/Unique in this Election:

720 seats will be contested in the 2024 EU Parliament election, down from 750 in the 2019 election but up from 705 active members as of April 2024.

Key Deadlines:

• Candidate filing deadline:  Varies by member state
• Voter registration deadline: Varies by member state

Main Parties in this Election:

• European People’s Party / Christian Democrats (EPP)
  • Seats won in last election: 177 out of 705
• Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D)
  • Seats won in last election: 140 out of 705
• Renew Europe
  • Seats won in last election: 102 out of 705
• Greens/European Free Alliance
  • Seats won in last election: 72 out of 705
• European Conservatives and Reformists
  • Seats won in last election: 68 out of 705
• Identity and Democracy
  • Seats won in last election: 59 out of 705
• The Left – GUE/NGL
  • Seats won in last election: 37 out of 705

There will also be independent/non-attached candidates, and 50 such candidates were elected in 2019.

Population and Registered Voters:

• Population: 448,753,823 (2023)

Gender Data:

• Female Population: 229,400,684 (2023)
• CEDAW Status: Not signed
• Gender Quota:  Varies by member state; 11 member states have “binding” quotas that require a certain quantity of each gender to be elected, while an additional 10 member states require candidate lists to contain a certain proportion of candidates of different genders.
• Female Candidates in this election: Yes
• Number of Female Legislators (pre-election): 279 out of 705 (39.6%) in the EU Parliament
• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: varies by member state
• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: Varies by member state

Disability Data:

• CRPD Status: Signed 30 March 2007, Ratified 23 December 2010
• Projected population with a disability: 71,800,612 (2023 est.)

IFES Resources:

• Does IFES have a presence in the European Union: Yes, the IFES Regional Europe Office is located in the Czech Republic and coordinates programming in EU and non-EU countries  
• Election Snapshot: Yes