Sunday, May 17, 2009
Snoopers Tip #11: Guide to the Upcoming European Parliament Elections.
To be more accurate, of course, 40% will."
And that's a great number, indeed. This Snoopers Tip (TM) provides a number of sites that provide information about the upcoming elections. In addition, browsing these sites provides further information about the European Union and its Parliament.
From their European Parliament elections site, the European Observer reports, "The 7th European Parliament elections are due to take place in June 2009. Some 400 million Europeans will be eligible to elect 736 MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) for the only European institution in which citizens have a direct say in who represents them."
According to the European Parliament's Internet site, "The European Parliament is the only supranational institution whose members are democratically elected by direct universal suffrage. It represents the people of the Member States. The European Parliament, which is elected every five years, is involved in drafting numerous laws (directives, regulations etc.) that affect the daily life of every" citizen. Go here for information about the European Union's European Parliament, and the European Parliament's powers. And here is an interactive map of the European Union containing information about each country's apportionment, etc.
Courtesy of Wikipedia, here are the election dates - MEP = Member of European Parliament:
- Thursday 4 June: United Kingdom, Netherlands (97 MEPs)
- Friday 5 June: Ireland, Czech Republic (day 1) (12 MEPs)
- Saturday 6 June: Cyprus, France (for part of Outre-mer[5]) Italy (day 1), Latvia, Malta, Slovakia, Czech Republic (day 2) (54 MEPs)
- Sunday 7 June: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy (day 2), Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland[6], Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden (561 MEPs)