World
Everything you need to know: Your guide to the 2024 European elections
The European Union is in full campaign mode 100 days ahead of the parliamentary elections in June. Don’t worry if you don’t know exactly how they work. This guide from Euronews tells you everything you need to know.
The continent-wide elections will see 720 Members of the European Parliament elected. This is an increase from the current 705 seats to accommodate demographic changes in several member states.
The Parliament is the only institution in the EU that is directly elected by voters. The other two main bodies are indirectly elected: the composition of the European Commission requires the approval of MEPs while the Council is made up of national ministers designated by their respective governments.
The three institutions work hand in hand – not always amicably – to advance legislation in a wide field of areas, such as climate action, digital regulation, migration and asylum, the single market, environmental protection and the common budget.
Here is your deep dive into the 2024 elections.
When will the elections be held?
The elections to the European Parliament will take place between 6-9 June and will be organised according to the electoral rules of each member state. Voters will choose the representatives of their country in open, semi-open and closed lists. A push to introduce transnational lists did not gain traction.
The poll begins in the Netherlands on Thursday, 6 June, followed by Ireland on Friday, 7 June. Latvia, Malta and Slovakia will participate on Saturday, 8 June, while the remaining countries will cast their votes on 9 June, the big Sunday.
The Czech Republic and Italy will allow voting on back-to-back days: Friday and Saturday for the Czechs, and Saturday and Sunday for the Italians.
What’s the minimum age for voters?
Like election day, this also depends on your nationality.
In the majority of member states, the minimum age for voters is 18 years old. However, in recent years, a handful of countries have lowered the threshold in a bid to boost turnout. In Greece, people aged 17 or older are allowed to vote. And in Belgium, Germany, Malta and Austria, the cut-off age has been set at 16.
By contrast, the minimum age for candidates to the Parliament ranges from 18 years old, in countries like Germany, France and Spain, to 25 years old in Greece and Italy. All EU citizens have the right to stand for office in another EU country if they are residents there.
Does this mean more people will vote?
That’s one of the burning questions in Brussels. The EU elections have for decades been saddled with low participation rates. In 2019, the figure stood at 50.66%, the first time it surpassed the 50% threshold since 1994.
This year, the bloc hopes to, at least, reach again the 50% mark. In practice, this will mean 185 million ballots out of the estimated 370 million eligible voters.
The youth are considered a key demographic to increase turnout. This explains why EU officials have set their (overly ambitious) sights on Taylor Swift and other A-list celebrities to convince Gen Z and millennials to get out and vote.
Is voting mandatory?
Voting is mandatory in only four member states: Belgium, Bulgaria, Luxembourg and Greece. This provision is enforced with leniency and does not necessarily translate into higher numbers. In 2019, Greece posted a 58.69% turnout, and Bulgaria just 32.64%.
Still, voting is highly recommended to make your voice heard.
Can I vote from abroad?
As a general rule: yes, you can. But it changes from country to country.
All member states, except the Czech Republic, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria and Slovakia, allow their citizens to cast their votes in embassies and consulates abroad, a step that often requires pre-registration. (Bulgaria and Italy only enable this option within another EU country.)
At the same time, Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Spain, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, the Netherlands, Austria, Slovenia, Finland and Sweden allow voters to send their ballots by post. In some cases, the mailing costs can be reimbursed.
Additionally, Belgium, France and the Netherlands authorise the use of proxies: a person who is unable to go to the polls can designate another person to vote on their behalf.
As of today, Estonia is the only EU nation that offers e-voting.
On the other hand, there is a minority of member states that have no option whatsoever to vote from abroad: the Czech Republic, Ireland, Malta and Slovakia.
For more information on how to vote, check the Parliament’s dedicated website.
When will we know the results?
The results of the elections will not be announced until Sunday evening. This prevents countries that vote earlier in the race from influencing the outcome of the latecomers.
The services of the European Parliament intend to publish the first partial estimations at 18:15 CET on Sunday and the first projection of the full hemicycle at 20:15 CET. This data will combine estimated votes and pre-election opinion polls.
By 23:00 CET, once all stations in all member states have closed, we will have a reliable, comprehensive look at the composition of the next European Parliament.
What happens after the elections?
Shortly after the elections are over, national authorities will communicate to the Parliament who has been elected (and who has been disqualified) so that the hemicycle can begin to constitute itself.
MEPs have to organise themselves into political groups according to their ideology and priorities. These groups have to include a minimum of 23 lawmakers from at least seven countries. Those who are left out will be considered “non-inscrits” (or “non-attached”) and will have less prominence in debates and committees.
The current hemicycle has seven groups: the European People’s Party (EPP), Socialists and Democrats (S&D), Renew Europe, the Greens/European Free Alliance, the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), Identity and Democracy (ID) and The Left.
The 10th legislature will start on 16 July, the date of the first plenary sitting. That day, the 720 MEPs will elect the Parliament’s president, 14 vice-presidents and five quaestors.
The first sitting will last until 19 July and will see the selection of committees and subcommittees. But the chairmanship positions, which the main groups traditionally divvy up in a game of horse-trading, will be announced in the days following the plenary.
What about the Spitzenkandidaten?
Back in 2014, the EU decided to try something new for a change: ahead of the parliamentary elections, each party was asked to publicly designate a lead candidate, or Spitzenkandidat in German, to preside over the European Commission, the bloc’s most powerful and influential institution.
This pre-selection, the thinking went, was meant to make the Commission more democratic and accountable in the eyes of European voters.
After the EPP won the elections with 221 seats, EU leaders respected the novel system and appointed Jean-Claude Juncker, the party’s lead candidate, as Commission president. The hemicycle then approved his bid with an absolute majority.
However, in 2019, things took a surprising turn: the EPP’s declared nominee, Manfred Weber, was unceremoniously pushed aside by EU leaders (most notably, France’s Emmanuel Macron). The rejection led to the surprising appearance of Ursula von der Leyen, who had been totally absent during the race.
Von der Leyen’s appointment, which survived the hemicycle by a razor-thin margin, prompted analysts and journalists to pronounce the Spitzenkandidaten dead.
The 2024 race comes with an attempt to revive the system: this year, von der Leyen will run as a lead candidate. The socialists, the Greens and the Left have also taken steps to put forward a presidential hopeful. But some other groups, like Renew Europe and ID, continue to shun the system, as it has no basis in the EU treaties.
Regardless of where the candidate comes from, the Parliament intends to hold a plenary session between 16 and 19 September to allow the appointee to make their political pitch and earn the endorsement of, at least, 361 of its 720 members.
If the Commission president is elected in that session, the Parliament will begin the hearings of Commissioner-designates according to their assigned portfolios. In 2019, three proposed names were rejected during the vetting process.
Once all Commissioner-designates have survived the hearings, which can stretch for hours and turn acrimonious, the Parliament will hold a vote of confidence on the entire College of Commissioners for a five-year mandate. Only then will the new Commission take office and the legislative work will kick start.
World
Tourist dies at luxury resort after cobra from snake show climbs up pants, bites him: police
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A German tourist has died after a venomous cobra featured in a snake show reportedly slithered up his pants and bit him on the leg, authorities said.
The freak accident occurred early April at a luxury resort destination in Egypt, according to the Bavarian State Police in Germany, which released details Monday.
“During the snake charmer’s performance, one of the snakes crawled into the trousers of a 57-year-old man, resulting in a bite to the German tourist’s leg,” officials said.
Police said the victim, whose identity was not released, was on vacation with two family members from the Unterallgäu region of Germany.
BILLIONAIRE’S DEATH AFTER SWALLOWING BEE RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT RARE CARDIAC REACTION
A King Cobra stis up freely while inside a building in April 2010. (Patrick Aventurier)
Authorities said the snake charmer event was part of a hotel entertainment program in the resort city of Hurghada, a popular Red Sea destination known for its upscale all-inclusive packages, as well as nearby desert and water excursions.
Two snakes, believed to be cobras, were used in the show, officials said.
Investigators indicated that it is not uncommon for performers to allow snakes to interact closely with audience members, as some of the snakes were reportedly placed around guests’ necks during the act.
However, during one segment of the performance, a snake reportedly bit the German tourist after crawling into his clothing.
“He subsequently exhibited clear symptoms of poisoning and required resuscitation,” officials said.
He reportedly died shortly after arriving at a local hospital.
LAW STUDENT KILLED BY ELEPHANT DURING VACATION TO THAILAND: OFFICIALS
Tourists swim in the Sunny Days Elpalacio beach in the Egyptian Red Sea resort city of Hurghada. (MOHAMED EL-SHAHED / AFP)
The results of a toxicological examination are still pending, Bavarian police said.
The investigation is being handled by Germany’s Memmingen Criminal Police Inspectorate under the direction of the Memmingen Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPPO).
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Tourists swimming at the Red Sea Egyptian resort of Hurghada on June 18, 2020 (KHALED DESOUKI/AFP)
Cobras are known for being highly venomous snakes. Their bite can lead to rapid respiratory failure and paralysis without prompt medical treatment.
Fox News Digital has reached out to MPPO for more information.
World
US appeals court rejects Trump’s immigration detention policy
In a 3-0 ruling, court says Trump administration misread a decades-old immigration law to justify mandatory detention.
A United States federal appeals court has rejected the Trump administration’s practice of subjecting most people arrested in its immigration crackdown to mandatory detention without the opportunity to seek release on bond.
In a 3-0 ruling on Tuesday, a panel of the New York-based US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit said the administration relied on a novel but incorrect interpretation of a decades-old immigration law to justify the policy.
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Writing for the panel, US Circuit Judge Joseph F Bianco, a Trump appointee, warned that the government’s reading “would send a seismic shock through our immigration detention system and society”, straining already overcrowded facilities, separating families and disrupting communities.
Lawyers for the Trump administration say the mandatory detention policy is legal under the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, passed in 1996.
But Bianco said the government had made “an attempt to muddy” the law’s “textually clear waters”, arguing that the administration’s interpretation “defies the statute’s context, structure, history, and purpose” and contradicts “longstanding executive branch practice”.
Under the Trump administration policy, the Department of Homeland Security last year took the position that non-citizens already living in the US, not just those arriving at the border, qualify as “applicants for admission” and are subject to mandatory detention.
Under federal immigration law, “applicants for admission” to the US are detained while their cases proceed in immigration courts and are ineligible for bond hearings.
The Department of Homeland Security has been denying bond hearings to immigrants arrested across the country, including those who have been living in the US for years without any criminal history, the Associated Press (AP) news agency reports.
That is a departure from the practice under previous US administrations, when most non-citizens with no criminal record who were arrested away from the border were given the opportunity to request a bond while their cases moved through immigration court, according to AP.
In such cases, bonds were often granted to people who were deemed not to be flight risks, and mandatory detention was limited to those who had just entered the country.
Amy Belsher, director of immigrants rights’ litigation at the New York Civil Liberties Union, said the appeals court ruling affirmed “that the Trump administration’s policy of detaining immigrants without any process is unlawful and cannot stand”.
“The government cannot mandatorily detain millions of noncitizens, many of whom have lived here for decades, without an opportunity to seek release. It defies the Constitution, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and basic human decency,” Belsher said in a statement.
Conflicting rulings set stage for Supreme Court review
The New York court’s decision comes after two other appeals courts ruled in favour of the Trump administration’s policy.
Acknowledging the opposing rulings, Judge Bianco said the panel was parting ways with them and instead aligning with more than 370 lower-court judges nationwide who have rejected the administration’s position as a misreading of the law.
The split among the courts increases the likelihood that the US Supreme Court will weigh in.
The latest ruling also upheld an order by a New York judge that led to the release of Brazilian national Ricardo Aparecido Barbosa da Cunha, who was arrested by immigration officials last year while driving to work after living in the US for more than 20 years.
“The court was right to conclude the Trump administration can’t just reinterpret the law at its own whim,” Michael Tan, a lawyer for Barbosa at the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement.
The Department of Justice, which is defending the mandatory detention policy in court, did not respond to a request for comment.
World
‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ First Reactions Say the Sequel Is ‘Charming,’ ‘Genuinely Heartwarming’ and Destined to ‘Be a Massive Hit’
Gird your loins, because “The Devil Wears Prada 2” has finally been unveiled to members of the film press and first reactions are trickling in for highly-anticipated sequel. The movie, which marks the return of Meryl Streep to her Oscar-nominated role of fashion magazine powerhouse Miranda Priestly, is being called “charming and fun” and destined to be a “massive hit.”
Entertainment journalist Daniel Baptista wrote on X that “The Devil Wears Prada 2” is a “fun and fierce sequel” that ushers a natural return for stars Streep and Anne Hathaway, adding: “It feels familiar in the best way, timely in the right ways, and is well worth the wait.”
Variety‘s senior artisans editor Jazz Tangcay echoed the praise, writing on X that “‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ is “phenomenal” and “the perfect sequel that exceeded all expectations. Aline Brosh McKenna’s script is sharp and witty. We’ll be quoting this for years to come. Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt are still great. Stunning costumes, and that soundtrack slaps hard.”
THR senior editor Alex Werpin called the sequel a “biting media parody wrapped up in high fashion,” adding: “Every journalist who sees it will cringe from recognition.”
“‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ has no right to be as good as it is,” adds Awards Watch’s Erik Anderson. “Just the right kind and number of callbacks and earned nostalgia, Anne Hathaway continues to be our most vibrant star. It’s funny and deeper, and we get the return of ‘Vogue.’”
Meryl Streep returns for “The Devil Wears Prada 2” alongside original cast members Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci, plus director David Frankel and screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna. New cast members include Kenneth Branagh, who is set to play Miranda Priestly’s husband, as well as Simone Ashley, Lucy Liu, Justin Theroux, B.J. Novak and more.
While plot details for the sequel have remained under wraps, trailers for “The Devil Wears Prada 2” have revealed that Hathaway’s Andy Sachs returns to Runway to be the magazine’s features editor. In the original, which opened in 2006 and grossed $326 million worldwide, Hathaway’s Andy is an aspiring journalist who becomes the personal assistant to Streep’s Miranda.
The film’s popularity has only skyrocketed in the 20 years since its release, so much so that filming “The Devil Wears Prada 2” on the streets of New York City proved difficult for the cast and crew as fans and paparazzi stormed the shot to follow their every move. Streep told Harper’s Bazaar that she “unnerved” while the filming because of what a sensation it caused.
“Even though we were aware of the impact of the first film two decades ago, I think none of us were prepared for the ambush of both goodwill and avid attention that engulfed us,” Streep said. “We needed police barriers and crowd control. Buses of fans turned up, and paparazzi swarmed and in one case kept jumping in front of the camera and the shot and got in a kerfuffle with crew. Annie kept her cool, but I was unnerved.”
“The Devil Wears Prada 2” kicks off this year’s summer movie season when it opens in theaters May 1 from 20th Century Studios and Disney.
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