AT A GLANCE
Infographic
2019 European elections: National rules
Expected election day Voting from abroad
Belgium
23
May
24
May
25 26
May
Bulgaria
Czech Republic * NOT POSSIBLE
May
Denmark
Nether- Ireland Latvia Austria Finland ! Luxembourg
lands ! Belgium France Poland Germany
Malta
! Bulgaria Germany Portugal Estonia Vote
Slovakia
Croatia ! Greece Romania Ireland NOT POSSIBLE
Czech Rep. ! Cyprus Hungary Slovenia
Denmark Italy Spain Greece
! Compulsory voting Estonia Lithuania Sweden Spain
France
Election day following national custom.
NB In a number of countries the day will only be formally confirmed closer to the election. Croatia
Number of MEPs and voting system
Italy
Cyprus *
Latvia
DE 96 =
751 705
Lithuania
FR 79 +5
IT 76 +3 Luxembourg
ES 59 +5 Hungary
PL 52 +1
2014 - 2019 2019 - 2024 RO 33 +1
Malta NOT POSSIBLE
Netherlands
NL 29 +3
BE 21 = Austria
Preferential voting Voting Number
Closed lists system CZ 21 of MEPs = Poland
STV (Single Transferable Vote) EL 21 = Portugal
HU 21 = Romania
Multiple constituencies PT 21 =
SE 21 +1 Slovenia
AT 19 +1 Slovakia NOT POSSIBLE
BG 17 = Finland
DK 14 +1 Sweden
SK 14 +1
FI 14 +1
IE 13 +2 By post Proxy
HR 12 +1 Vote
LT 11 = Embassy E-voting
LV 8 Change =
SI
EE
8
7
from
current
=
+1 * Voting from abroad only possible for
those resident in another EU country.
CY 6 term =
LU
MT
6
6
=
=
Minimum age of candidates
Electoral threshold
18 21
DK DE ES FR HR BE BG CZ EE IE
LU HU MT NL AT LV LT PL SK CY
5% 4% 3% 1.8% None PT SI FI SE
CZ HU IT AT EL CY BE IE PT
FR PL SE BG ES SI
HR
LV
LT
RO
SK This graphic shows only thresholds explicitly set out in national electoral
laws. ‘Effective thresholds’ also apply mathematically, based on the total
DK
DE
EE
LU FI
MT
NL
23 25
number of seats (nationally or per constituency).
RO EL IT
Note: This infographic shows the situation as known to the authors on 1 October 2018. It will be updated periodically, as the rules in individual Member
States are confirmed in the run-up to the 2019 elections.
EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service
Authors: Giulio Sabbati and Gianluca Sgueo
Members’ Research Service
PE 623.556 - October 2018
EPRS 2019 European elections: National rules
Further information
Item Data source
Election day The elections to the European Parliament (EP) will be held in all EU Member States between 23 and 26 May 2019.
The precise day of elections is set by Member States; in several cases, this has yet to be confirmed formally for
2019. Election results can be published only after the polls close in the Member State whose voters are the last to
vote on Sunday 26 May 2019.
Compulsory voting Voting is compulsory in only five Member States – BE, BG, LU, CY and EL, where the legal obligation to vote applies
to both nationals and registered non-national EU citizens.
Number of MEPs The EP currently has 751 MEPs (the maximum possible under Article 14(2) TEU). Following the United Kingdom’s
withdrawal from the EU, some of the seats now held by Members elected in the UK will be redistributed among
Member States, and the overall total number of seats reduced to 705.
Voting system MEPs are elected according to national electoral systems, but these have to observe certain common provisions
established by EU law such as proportional representation. As a general rule, voters can choose between political
parties, individual candidates or both. While in some Member States, voters can only vote for a list, without the
possibility to change the order of candidates on the list (closed list), in other Member States voters can express their
preference for one or more of the candidates (preferential voting). Depending on the degree of freedom voters
enjoy when casting their preferential vote, one can distinguish between semi-open lists, where voters can change
the position of one or all candidates on a single chosen list, and open lists, where voters can vote for candidates
from different lists. Instead of a list system, some Member States use the single transferable vote (STV). Under this
system, the voter has one vote but can rank the candidates in order of their first, second, third, etc. choice. To be
elected, a candidate needs to receive a minimum number of votes.
Constituencies Whilst in the majority of Member States the national territory forms a single electoral constituency for the
European elections, certain Member States have divided their territories into multiple constituencies. These are:
BE, IE, IT and PL.
Voting from abroad Almost all Member States allow the possibility to vote from abroad in EP elections. Some Member States require voters
to pre-register with their national electoral authorities to be eligible to vote from abroad by post or at an embassy/
consulate. In several Member States, the right to vote abroad applies only to citizens living in another EU Member
State (e.g. BG, IT). In addition, most Member States make special arrangements for diplomats and military personnel
serving abroad. In some Member States (e.g. Denmark), voting at embassies takes place prior to election day.
New amendments to the 1976 Electoral Act, to which Parliament gave its consent in plenary on 4 July 2018, state
that Member States may provide for the possibilities of advance voting, postal voting, and electronic and internet
voting, in elections to the European Parliament. Where they do so, they shall adopt measures sufficient to ensure in
particular the reliability of the result, the secrecy of the vote, and the protection of personal data in accordance with
applicable Union law. Member States shall take the necessary measures to ensure that double voting in elections
to the European Parliament is subject to effective, proportionate and dissuasive penalties. Finally, Member States
may take the necessary measures to allow those of their citizens residing in third countries to vote in elections to the
European Parliament.
Franchise and Electoral Participation of Third Country Citizens Residing in the European Union and of EU Citizens
Residing in Third Countries, Policy Department for Citizens’ Rights and Constitutional Affairs, European Parliament,
PE 474.441, 2013.
Electoral threshold The European Parliament adopted a resolution on 11 November 2015 based on a legislative initiative report on
the reform of the electoral law of the EU. Among the changes was a measure on thresholds. Based on Parliament’s
initiative, Council made a modified proposal for a decision, to which Parliament gave its consent on 4 July 2018.
Following the Parliament’s consent, the Council adopted the decision on 13 July 2018. The new rules set an
obligatory threshold in certain cases for the allocation of seats. At national level, this threshold may not exceed
5 % of valid votes cast. Moreover, Member States in which the list system is used shall set a minimum threshold
for the allocation of seats for constituencies which comprise more than 35 seats. This threshold shall not be lower
than 2 %, and shall not exceed 5 % of the valid votes cast in the constituency concerned, including a single-
constituency Member State. In practice, this provision concerns only the largest Member States. Member States
will have to comply with this obligation at the latest in time for the Parliament’s election in 2024.
NB: There is currently no electoral threshold in Germany. This is due to a 2014 German Federal Constitutional Court
decision that declared the 3% electoral threshold unconstitutional.
Reform of the Electoral Law of the European Union: European Added Value Assessment accompanying the
legislative own-initiative report, EPRS, 2015.
Reform of the Electoral Law of the EU, Legislative Train Schedule, European Parliament, 2018.
Minimum age of The minimum age to be eligible to vote and to stand as a candidate in the European elections is established by
candidates national law. While the age to be eligible to vote is 18 years in all Member States, except Austria where the voting
age is 16, the minimum age necessary to stand as a candidate in the European elections varies considerably,
ranging from 18 to 25 years old.
Country code
Belgium (BE), Bulgaria (BG), Czech Republic (CZ), Denmark (DK), Germany (DE), Estonia (EE), Ireland (IE), Greece (EL), Spain (ES), France (FR), Croatia (HR),
Italy (IT), Cyprus (CY), Latvia (LV), Lithuania (LT), Luxembourg (LU), Hungary (HU), Malta (MT), Netherlands (NL), Austria (AT), Poland (PL), Portugal (PT),
Romania (RO), Slovenia (SI), Slovakia (SK), Finland (FI) and Sweden (SE).
This document is prepared for, and addressed to, the Members and staff of the European Parliament as background material to assist them in their parliamentary work.
The content of the document is the sole responsibility of its author(s) and any opinions expressed herein should not be taken to represent an official position of the
Parliament. Reproduction and translation for non-commercial purposes are authorised, provided the source is acknowledged and the European Parliament is given
prior notice and sent a copy. © European Union, 2018.
eprs@ep.europa.eu (mail) http://www.eprs.ep.parl.union.eu (intranet) http://www.europarl.europa.eu/thinktank (internet) http://epthinktank.eu (blog)
