The election to the European Parliament is being held between 23 and 26 May 2019 and is the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. As of 2018, a total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million people from 28 member states. In February 2018 the European Parliament had voted to decrease the number of MEPs from 751 to 705 if the United Kingdom were to withdraw from the European Union on 29 March 2019.[4] However, after an extension of the Article 50 process, the United Kingdom participated alongside other EU member states. On 7 June 2018 the Council agreed at ambassador level to improve the EU electoral law and to reform old laws from the 1976 Electoral Act. The purpose of the reform is to improve participation in elections, raise understanding of their European character and prevent irregular voting while at the same time respecting the constitutional and electoral traditions of the member states.[6] The reform forbids double voting and voting in third countries, thus improving the visibility of European political parties.[6] To avoid double voting, contact authorities are established to exchange data on voters, a process that has to start at least six weeks before the elections. The European Parliament gave its consent on 4 July 2018 and the Act was adopted by the Council on 13 July 2018. However Member States were not able to ratify the Act prior to the 2019 elections and therefore this election will take place in line with the previous rules.
The Spitzenkandidat process involves the nomination by European political parties of candidates for the role of Commission President, the party winning the most seats in Parliament receiving the first opportunity to attempt to form a majority in Parliament to back their candidate (akin to how Prime Ministers are elected in national parliamentary democracies). This process was first used in 2014 and was opposed by some in the Council. The future of the process is uncertain, but the Parliament has attempted to codify the process and the parties are almost certain to select the candidates again. On 23 January 2018, the Constitutional Affairs Committee adopted a text stating that the Spitzenkandidat process could not be overturned, and that Parliament "will be ready to reject any candidate in the investiture procedure of the commission president who was not appointed as a Spitzenkandidat in the run-up to the European elections". In May 2018 a Eurobarometer poll suggested that 49% of the 27,601 individuals from all 28 EU countries surveyed think that the Spitzenkandidat process will help them vote in the next European elections while 70% also think that the process requires a real debate on European issues.
