Almost two-thirds of EU citizens will vote in the June European Parliament elections, which will take place from June 6 to 9. This is evidenced by survey data from the official sociological service Eurobarometer.
71% of European respondents stated their intention to go to the polling stations and elect their representatives to the 720-seat European Parliament. More than 26,000 people from 27 member countries of the European Union took part in the survey. Thus, the expected voter turnout will exceed the previous election campaign figure by 10%. The data was published on Wednesday morning, April 17, and is the last poll before the upcoming elections.
14% of respondents are “unlikely” to take part in the vote, and another 13% have not yet decided on their position. The highest likelihood of voting is in Denmark (87%), the Netherlands (86%), Sweden (81%), Finland (79%) and Germany (78%).
Estimated turnout increased sharply in some countries compared to 2019:
- in the Czech Republic from 39% to 58%,
- in Romania from 55% to 74%,
- in Austria and Poland from 52% to 70% (in both countries),
- in Cyprus from 44% to 60%,
- in Slovakia from 47% to 62%.
The least number of those who are going to exercise their right to choose is in Bulgaria: from 57% in 2019, the number of people willing to vote decreased to 50% in 2024.
And yet the willingness to come out to vote is a strong trend throughout EU. It is accompanied by an increase in the “involvement” of citizens: 60% said they were “interested” or “very interested” in the electoral race – this is 11% more than in the spring of 2019.
The Eurobarometer survey asked citizens to rate the “importance” of the June elections and found the following results: 53% said it was “highly important”, 36% said it was “medium” and 10% said it was “low” importance.
The increased focus on the election comes as Ukraine struggles to fend off a Russian invasion with a critical ammunition shortage and the conflict between Iran and Israel threatens to escalate into a broader confrontation in the region. Such uncertainty appears to have a strong impact on voters: for 81% of EU citizens, “the current international context makes voting even more important.”
The Eurobarometer survey provides insight into how European Union citizens feel about the institution they will directly elect in June. Over the past few months, important votes have taken place in the European Parliament on issues of migration, artificial intelligence and media freedom. But it has also been rocked by scandals, from Qatargate to allegations that some MPs were paid to spread pro-Russian propaganda.
Overall, 56% of EU citizens would like parliament to “play a more important role.” 41% of respondents had a “positive” view of the legislature, up five points from the last survey in September-October. 40% of respondents called their perception “neutral” and only 18% – “negative”. For the first time, the party of “optimists” outnumbers the ranks of the “skeptics”.
The most positive are Portugal (66%), Denmark (59%), Ireland (59%) and Luxembourg (53%). Hungary, whose prime minister has proposed stripping parliament of its powers, tends to have a “positive” opinion (46%). The “skeptic” camp does not constitute a majority in any of the member states, but is quite noticeable in the Czech Republic (29%), France (28%), Austria (24%) and Slovenia (22%).
The block-wide survey also asked participants to name four topics that they would like to prioritize.
Tackling poverty and social exclusion (33%), health (32%), supporting the economy and creating new jobs (31%) and EU defense and security (31%) ranked first, highlighting the disruption caused by major crises of the last few years: the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and record inflation.
Topics that stand out include combating climate change (27%), the future of Europe (26%), migration and asylum (24%), democracy and the rule of law (23%) and agricultural policy (23%).
The findings are quite similar to an exclusive Euronews poll conducted by Ipsos in March, which found that tackling rising prices, reducing social inequality and supporting economic growth were top concerns among Europeans.
And a separate question was about the values that citizens would like parliament to protect. The answer is laconic: “Peace and democracy.”
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