Rules for the European Parliamentary elections

The first week of June should see millions of people exercise their right to vote for Members of the European Parliament. The EU does not have a single electoral law for these elections and many details are decided at a national level. Nevertheless, a basic set of rules has been established, which ensures that all MEPs are elected by universal suffrage in free elections by secret ballot, on the basis of proportional representation.

The rules for voting in European elections have developed since the Assembly was first conceived in 1957. The six founding countries envisaged a "uniform procedure" that they and Assembly Members would agree. This never developed as intended and national election rules have subsequently governed elections.

In 1976, the then nine Members of the Community agreed on a more general "Elections Act" for what became known as the European Parliament. This said that MEPs should be elected for five years, elections must be held within the same week, between Thursday and Sunday and the counting of votes may not start until polling stations are closed in all countries. It also said that MEPs may not also be Ministers in national governments or European Commissioners.

The Treaty of Amsterdam, which came into force in 1999, said that rules should be drawn up that follow common principles that would guide elections in the then 15 states of the European Union. A new election act in 2002 was first used in European elections for 25 countries in 2004.

All MEPs are elected by universal suffrage in free elections by secret ballot on the basis of proportional representation, rather than the first past the post system that had been used in some Member States and still is used for national elections.

However, countries can be subdivided into electoral regions to which proportional representation is applied. Ireland, the UK, Italy, France and Belgium use this system.

Countries can also impose a threshold not higher than 5% of all votes, at a national level, that a party or candidate must reach to be represented in the European Parliament.

Since the 2004 elections a member of the European Parliament cannot be a member of a National Government at the same time.

The mandate held by MEPs is personal and "they shall not be bound by any instructions and shall not receive a binding mandate."

The 1993 Maastricht Treaty legally introduced the notion of EU citizenship. With it came the possibility for EU citizens to vote in local and EP elections in the country where they live, regardless of nationality.

Citizens can also run for office in EP and municipal elections in a country other than their home EU state.