the theory
The requirements for the voting right
Do you meet all the requirements to vote?
Let’s go practicing!
did you know?
the powers
You have the nationality:
You can not vote if…
- you are not a citizen of a country of the European Union
- you are not 18 years old on the day of the elections
- you are not registered on the electoral list in Luxembourg.
Perfect!
You have everything you need to vote in the European elections!
You have everything you need to vote in the European elections!
did you know? If you are a Luxembourger, there is no need to do anything, you are automatically registered for the European elections.
If you are a citizen of the European Union and you live and are registered in Luxembourg, you can :
- vote for candidates running in your country of origin, or
- participate in the Luxembourg elections and vote for candidates from the Grand Duchy. In this case you will have to register on the electoral lists.
the powers
& competences
The European Parliament is the only elected European institution and represents more than 500 million citizens from 27 Member States. 720 deputies are elected to the European Parliament, including 6 representatives from Luxembourg.
The seat of the European Parliament is in Strasbourg, France, where the plenary sessions are held. The meetings of the Commissions and some additional plenary sessions are held in Brussels in Belgium. The General Secretariat is located in Luxembourg.
The European Parliament (EP), together with the Council of the European Union, shares the legislative power of the Union in almost all areas with the introduction of regulations and directives. With the Council, it adopts and amends proposals of the European Commission.
The European Parliament also has a power of control over the European Commission, as well as the power to determine the European monetary budget. Thus, the Parliament has the final say on the budget of the European Union.
The EU only has those competences which are enshrined in its treaties. Moreover, these competences, as defined in the agreements, differ from one area to another. In several areas, only the EU can take binding decisions: these are the exclusive competences. In these cases, member states can only act together at the European level (usually through the Council of the European Union). Examples of these powers are listed below
Europe, how does it work?
In 13 areas, competences are shared between the EU and the member states. To be sure which of the two is decisive, the applied principle is as follows: the EU only has priority if its actions are considered more effective than those of the member states. However, this is not always evident, and the European Court of Justice often has to clarify the situation. The respective 13 competences are also listed below.
The third important type of competences of the European Parliament is the supporting competence. This concerns areas where the EU can only intervene to support the actions of member states without influencing their laws and regulations. This is the case, for example, in the areas of culture, health and education.
Finally, the European Union has specific competences in the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP): each state retains its own sovereignty in this area, but the EU has a framework to better coordinate the actions of the member states.
The exclusive
of the EU.*
- The customs union
- The establishment of competition rules necessary for the functioning of the internal market
- Monetary policy for EU countries whose currency is the euro
- Conservation of the sea's biological resources within the framework of the common fisheries policy
- The common commercial policy
- The conclusion of international agreements under certain conditions.
Shared
competences*
- The internal market
- Social policy, for the aspects defined in a precise way in the treaty exclusively
- Economic, social and territorial cohesion
- Agriculture and fisheries
- The environment
- Consumer protection
- Transport
- Trans-European networks
- Energy
- Area of freedom, security and justice
- Common safety issues in the field of public health
- Research, technological development and space
- Development cooperation and human aid.
*non-exhaustive lists
The voting system
Luxembourg elects 6 members to the European Parliament. The voters have two possibilities:
Insert a cross (+ or x) in the circle placed at the top of a list. In this case the voter automatically gives a vote to each candidate of this list.
or
Allocate one or two votes to the candidates of his choice, by placing one or two crosses (+ or x) in the boxes placed behind the name of these candidates and up to the total amount of votes he has (6). The crosses can be registered on one or more lists. This is called in Luxembourg the panachage.
Example:
List suffrage
In this example, you have assigned 1 vote to each candidate on this list. No additional suffrages are possible.
Nominally
In this example, you have assigned 1 or 2 suffrages to the candidates of your choice (panachage). You have a maximum of 6 suffrages available.
Any doubt?
Back to theory
Back to theory
the practice
Quiz
Are you ready for the European elections?
Test your knowledge about the European elections with this multiple choice quiz (several answers possible)
European elections take place every 5 years.
Members of the European Parliament are elected. The European Commissioners are appointed by the governments of the Member States. The Council of the European Union is made up of the ministers of the 27 countries of the European Union.
In recent decades, the European Parliament has gradually acquired more powers. Today, it is a co-legislator in almost all areas. Together with the Council, it adopts or modifies the proposals that come from the Commission, whose work it also supervises. The parliament also adopts the Union's budget.
On January 31, 2020, the United Kingdom left the EU, often referred to as "Brexit." Since then, the EU has only 27 member states.
The European Parliament has its seat in Strasbourg where the Members meet 12 times a year in plenary session. The meetings of the committees and political groups are held in Brussels. Luxembourg is the seat of the Secretariat General.
Any EU citizen who meets the above conditions and who registers at least 55 days before the day of the election on the electoral list in his or her Luxembourg municipality can participate in the European elections in the Grand Duchy. Please note that there is a list for the European elections and a list for the communal elections. Once you are on these lists, you do not need to re-register.
Since the "Brexit", the number of members of the European Parliament has increased from 751 to 705 members.
Question 01/07
European elections are held every:
Question 02/07
Who is elected in the European elections?
Question 03/07
What power(s) does the European Parliament have?
Question 04/07
How many countries are currently members of the European Union?
Question 05/07
Where does the European Parliament work?
Question 06/07
I have the nationality of another member state of the European Union and I live in Luxembourg. Can I vote directly in Luxembourg during the European elections?
Question 07/07
How many members of the European Parliament are to be elected in the 27 Member States?
Wow ! Not bad !
You obtained on this exercise a score of
09 / 10
Your general score is
we go to the next step
0 / 30
or do we start again?
i’m sure you could do better!
You obtained on this exercise a score of
09 / 10
Your general score is
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the practice
Drag & drop
Do you know the difference between the exclusive competences of the European Parliament and the competences shared with the national states?
Divide the competences in the urn of the right instance:
Uppss!
Wrong answer
Wrong answer
Bravo!
That’s right
That’s right
Exclusive competences
Monetary policy for EU countries whose currency is the euro
The common commercial policy of the Member States
Energy
Customs union
Agriculture and fisheries
Environment
Shared competences
Wow ! Not bad !
You obtained on this exercise a score of
09 / 10
Your general score is
we go to the next step
0 / 30
or do we start again?
i’m sure you could do better!
You obtained on this exercise a score of
09 / 10
Your general score is
Retry
or do we pass this stage?
0 / 30
the practice
The voting ballots
Do you know how to vote in the European elections?
Check your knowledge!
To fill out the ballot
You can:
- fill in the circle of the box placed at the head of a list with a cross (+ or x) and thus give your votes to this list
OU
- write one or two crosses (+ or x) behind a candidate on one or several lists (panachage”)
6 European deputies to elect = you have 6 votes to distribute”.
Wow! On the way to the Europeans!
You obtained on this exercise a score of
09 / 10
Your general score is
0 / 30
We recommend that you go through the theory again and redo the exercises to improve your score.
Retry
i’m sure you could do better!
You obtained on this exercise a score of
09 / 10
Your general score is
Retry
0 / 30