EU28. In total 20 European leaders presented their views on the future direction that the European Union should take, between January 2018 and April 2019. Read the latest analysis on these Future of Europe debates here.
BELGIUM. Belgians will not only vote for European elections, between the 23-26 May, but also for the regional and federal ones. Read the full list of candidates running to take up the 21 MEP seats assigned to Belgium (12 for the Dutch Electoral College, 8 for the French one and 1 for the German one). 15 MEPs are re-running: Guy Verhofstadt, Hilde Vautmans, Frederique Ries, Lieve Wierinck (ALDE), Kathleen Van Brempt, Marie Arena, Marc Tarabella (S&D), Pascal Arimont, Tom Vandenkendelaere, Ivo Belet (EPP), Philippe Lamberts, Bart Staes (Greens), Mark Demesmaeker, Ralph Packet (ECR), and Gerolf Annemans (ENR).
BULGARIA. Tonight is the third in a series of TV debates with MEP candidates hosted by public broadcaster BNT. Here is the contenders’ order of participation, and you can watch the first and second debate online. The final debate is on 21 May.
CROATIA. Former Bulgarian ambassador to Croatia Tanya Dimitrova has won a price for the best European speech, awarded by the European Movement Croatia, whereby she was acknowledged for a speech on 7 February 2018 on the Bulgarian presidency of the Council of the EU. In an interview for HRT, the Croatian national television, Dimitrova stressed the timeliness of the award, just “a few days before the exceptionally important European elections”. Croatia will take over the presidency of the Council in January 2020.
DENMARK. Danish lead candidates face up to a representative “mini-Denmark” at a citizen dialogue in the Danish Parliament today, discussing, among others; climate change, asylum and migration, free trade, Denmark’s role in a global world, social dumping, tax havens and money laundering. The dialogue will end with a televised debate based on the questions formulated during the day. It will be broadcast live on TV2 at 19:23 and can also be followed here.
FINLAND. The Europe women association have organised an election panel today, on how to increase voting among women in EU elections and what MEPs can do to advance gender equality. Heidi Hautala (Greens/EFA), Sirpa Pietikainen (EPP) and Mirja Vehkapera (ALDE) will take part in the panel among others.
FRANCE/GERMANY/UK. Former Italian EU minister Sandro Gozi is 22nd on the European Election list for the French governing party La Republique en marche, in France. He joins the likes of Greece’s former Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, candidate in Germany (Demokratie in Europa-Diem 25), and former Polish Deputy Prime Minister Jacek Rostowski, candidate in the UK (Change UK), in an election first of former government members who are running outside their own countries.
ITALY. Tomorrow (15 May) the Parliament’s office in Rome will livestream the debate between the lead candidates for the Presidency of the European Commission live from the Parliament in Brussels, starting at 19:00. Ahead of the debate, there will be a discussion on the future of Europe with model Chiara Bordi, geologist and scientific writer Mario Tozzi, climate issues expert Massimo Frezzotti and singer Lorenzo Baglioni.
NETHERLANDS. A range of vote matching tools helps Dutch voters decide who to vote for in the 2019 European elections. With the Stemwijzer.nl (also in English) political preferences are tested by response to 30 statements. Young Voice is specifically for young people. Kieskompas identifies different types of Europeans, while Stemchecker looks at what the political parties do in practice (and not at what they promise in campaigns). On the Open State Foundation website, voters can see how certain words and terms were used in political programmes.
PORTUGAL. The Portuguese Professional Footballers Association published a video, featuring players stating why it is important to vote in the European elections - A more inclusive Europe, the fight against discrimination, racism and homophobia, strengthening women’s rights and guaranteeing the future of young people are among the reasons mentioned by the players. "Do not let others decide your future", they say.
By: N. Peter Kramer
