This time I’m voting: European elections 23-26 May 2019

The campaign of institutional communication promoted by the European Parliament

With this article we conclude, our in-depth study of the High-Level Conference  Cultural Heritage in Europe: linking past and future of June 26, 2018 at the European Parliament in Brussels.

After President Antonio Tajani’s speech, the speeches of some of the special guests and that one of Ezio Bosso, we focus on the institutional communication campaign promoted by the EP, independent of any political party and ideology, whose goal is to promote democratic engagement in next European elections.

From May 23-26, 2019, citizens of the EU Member States will vote to elect the 705 members of the new European Parliament to 27 Member States, 46 less than the EU 28. The seats currently occupied by the United Kingdom will be redistributed among 14 Member States.

The analysis of candidates and programs will make it possible to choose the most suitable representatives to lead the EU through the new challenges of the shared single project based on peaceful cooperation. Awareness, information, transparency, civic sense, active participation are the key words of this campaign of institutional communication. The goal is to take responsibility for our choices.

President Antonio Tajani emphasizes that the recent results of the Eurobarometer survey indicate a growing favorable opinion towards the EU, despite the withdrawal of the United Kingdom, or perhaps because it inspires a renewed sense of attachment to our Union:

Over the next months, our citizens will consider what the European Union is doing to protect them, create new opportunities and project its strength abroad.
They will expect answers to concerns about migration flows, fighting terrorism, the environment and jobs. We must ensure that our citizens are aware of the results MEPs are delivering every day.

We are putting the European Parliament – the EU’s only directly elected institution – at the heart of the discussion on Europe’s future. Government leaders are now joining us regularly to outline their respective visions to us.
This has led to lively debates that will form the basis for the next stage in Europe’s evolution.

The media will play a central role in informing and influencing public opinion in the run-up to these elections. In order to follow campaigns in individual Member States, understand their impact and the changes that they will bring to Parliament in 2019.

In this context, European leaders will continue debating with MEPs to identify the ways forward for the future of Europe. In September of 2018, the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, will hold the last speech on the “State of the Union”, SOTEU, and defend his political heritage in a debate on the work of the outgoing Commission, with the participation of all the Commissioners. The Parliament will have to vote on the United Kingdom withdrawal bill to conclude the Brexit negotiations, presumably in autumn. Britain’s accession to the European Union is set to lapse as of March 29, 2019.

Citizens’ debates on the future of Europe started in June, as part of the ‘European Youth Event 2018’, held in Strasbourg, will continue. The EYE2018 report will conclude the debates. The supporters will present their most surprising ideas in special youth hearings within parliamentary committees before the end of the year.

An important step in a live democracy will be the opening of a public debate based on facts. Parliament’s services will use both traditional and digital tools to inform European citizens about past performance and future challenges, to enable informed debate on what makes the EU valuable to them and where necessary, make changes to deliver benefits at all national and cross-border levels. The non-partnership platform, This time I’m voting, is a focal point to continue the debate and motivate more and more people to participate, get information and make their voices heard during the European elections of May 2019.

This time it’s not enough to just hope for a better future: this time we all need to take responsibility for it.

So this time we’re not just asking you to vote, we’re also asking you to help to persuade others to vote too.

Because when everybody votes, everybody wins.

To help spread the message This time I’m voting, the EP asks for direct help from citizens by sharing a link every time something is written about European issues on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or via email or WhatsApp or Telegram messages.

Thanks to SOTEU Competition 2018, with a deadline of July 31st, ten lucky European citizens of European age who share their ideas on the future of Europe will win a trip to Strasbourg from September 10 to 13 to personally attend the speech on the state of EU and get to know MEPs.

Parliament will carry out further Eurobarometer surveys on public opinion monitoring citizens’ expectations, common trends and national differences. Leading up the elections, polls on voting intentions in the EU27 will be published every two months and then weekly during the last month before the vote.

In the coming months, the EP will be grappling with a series of legislative votes such as: UK withdrawal agreement; EU long-term budget; common asylum rules including a reform of Dublin rules; the copyright reform; drinking water quality; safer banks in the Banking Union; coordination of social security systems; work-life balance for parents and carers; transparent and predictable working conditions; reform of EU consumer protection rules; energy efficiency; rule of law votes concerning Hungary and Poland; audiovisual media directive update; reform of the Common Agriculture Policy.

Used for the first time in the 2014 European elections, the ‘lead candidate process’ offers European citizens the opportunity to express an opinion on the candidates for the presidency of the European Commission. Parliament is ready to reject any candidate for President of the Commission who has not been nominated as a ‘lead candidate’. This is a more transparent and democratic process that allows to know in advance the representative supported by the parties and his program.

Citizens who want to engage even more actively will only have to monitor the This time I’m voting platform to stay updated on the many events scheduled in the main European cities, in view of the upcoming European elections 2019.

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