• Europeans from 21 countries have started voting on the fourth and final day of the EU parliamentary elections.
• The results should be clear late on Sunday, with exit polls in Germany expected at 1600 UTC.
• The Netherlands, the UK, Ireland, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Malta and Slovakia have already voted.

07:45 The election will hopefully strengthen anti-immigration political forces across Europe, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said after casting his vote in Budapest. "I hope that there will be a shift in the European public arena in favour of those political parties who would like to stop migration."

07:15 Support for the Green Party surged in Ireland — where the vote was held on Friday — putting the Greens on course to win as many as three European seats, according to an exit poll for broadcasters RTE/TG4. European Greens co-lead candidate Bas Eickhout spoke of a "green wave" rolling on to Irish shores from the Netherlands, where an exit poll put GroenLinks' (GreenLeft's) share of the vote up to 10.5%.

06:40 The European Parliament forms the democratic basis of the European Union. It plays a key role in electing the president of the European Commission and ensures EU institutions are working democratically. The Parliament shares power over the bloc's budget and legislation with the Council of the European Union, which represents the governments of member states. Elections to the Parliament take place every five years and voter turnout has been steadily declining. In 2014 it was the lowest ever — just 42.5%.

06:25 Around 400 million people are eligible to vote for 751 MEPs who will serve for the next five years and help shape Europe’s future. There's a lot at stake. The issues of Brexit, immigration and the rise of right-wing parties across the bloc could bring some surprises and make these polls the most important since the first direct elections 40 years ago.

06:00 Polling stations in 21 EU countries, including major EU states of Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Poland, have opened.

Read more: EU election: Europeans head to the polls across the continent

Voting is also taking place in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Sweden.

The Netherlands and the UK headed to the EU polls on Thursday — the first day of election — followed by Ireland and the Czech Republic on Friday and Latvia, Malta and Slovakia on Saturday.

A total of 420 million EU citizens are eligible to cast their ballot in these elections.

According to exit polls, the Netherlands' center-left party of EU Vice President Frans Timmermans won the most votes and added two seats to the Socialists and Democrats (S&D) bloc in the EU Parliament.

In Britain, hundreds of non-British EU citizens were turned away from polling stations on Thursday after being told they were not registered to vote in the UK for the election. The British government is now facing a potential legal challenge over the denial of votes to EU citizens.

As Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Poland send almost half of all MEPs to the European Parliament – 348 out of a total 751 – the Sunday vote is dubbed the most crucial of all rounds. Opinion polls suggest that far-right groups and Euroskeptics could gain more strength in the European Parliament, with populist parties such as Marine Le Pen's National Rally in France and Matteo Salvini's Northern League in Italy are expected to perform well in the polls.

Read more: Opinion: The EU's future and the European Parliament vote </s> The Italian election 2018 in which voters will elect the 945 members of the parliament for the 18th legislature since 1948 will take place on Sunday, March 4 2018. In Italy, elections for MPs and Senators take place every five years - with 630 members of the Camera dei Deputati (lower chamber) and 315 of the Camera del Senato (the Senate/upper house) vying to retain and regain a seat this weekend. On election day this Sunday, polls will be open from 7am until 11pm across the country (6am until 10pm GMT). The first exit polls should be published immediately after and the votes are expected to be fully counted around 2pm on Monday local time (3pm GMT).

However, the first actual results could be released in the early hours of Monday, according to media reports. Everyone over 18-years-old gets a vote - but only people over 25 can elect representatives in the upper chamber. Voters are presented with two sheets of paper, one to choose members of the lower chamber and one to choose the ones of the upper one. The upper chamber also has a small portion of people ( a vita, senators for life) who can’t be elected but are appointed by the President for specific merits and retain their seats for their life. i.e. Architect Renzo Piano is a Senatore a vita.

People aged between 18-24 can only vote for members of the lower chamber. Under Italian law, opinion polls are not allowed in the final two weeks before the vote. Polling data has now been suspended ahead of next week’s vote - but an Index poll from February 2018 seems to show the clear winners this week. Berlusconi’s centre-right party Forza Italia is currently in a pre-election coalition with the Northern League and the post- Brothers of Italy (FDI).

This coalition has the best chance of forming a government with the Index poll suggesting the group could take 295 seats. The coalition partners have agreed that the party that gets the most votes will then get to choose the candidate for Prime Minister. Out of the three parties, Forza Italia is currently in the lead in the polls but Berlusconi will not be allowed to take public office as he remains barred after a tax fraud conviction in 2013. In Italy’s general election in 2013, the first exit polls correctly indicated the Democratic Party had enough votes to win. But those same polls also overstated how much support the Democrats would receive and underestimated the votes for the populist, eurosceptic Five Star Movement. </s> The Latest: Slovakia pro-EU party comes in 1st in EU vote

BRUSSELS (AP) — The Latest on elections for the European Parliament (all times local):

A new pro-EU coalition linked to President-elect Zuzana Caputova has won the European Parliament election in Slovakia while a far-right party gained seats in the EU legislature for the first time.

According to the final results released by the Slovak Statistics Office, the coalition Progressive Slovakia/Together received 20.1 % of the vote, gaining four seats in the European legislature.

Caputova was Progressive Slovakia deputy chairman before winning the March presidential election.

People's Party Our Slovakia, a far-right party, finished third with 12.1 %, winning two seats.

But Slovakia's local ally of France's far-right National Rally party led by Marine Le Pen didn't win a seat.

A centrist party in the Czech Republic led by populist Prime Minister Andrej Babis won the most votes in the European Parliament election despite the fact that Babis is facing fraud charges involving the use of EU funds.

The Czech Statistics office says his ANO (YES) group has won 21.2% percent of the Sunday vote or six seats — two more than in 2014 —of the 21 seats at stake in the Czech ballot.

Babis wants his country to remain in the bloc but is calling for EU reforms.

The Czech Republic's most ardent anti-EU group, the Freedom and Direct Democracy party, captured its first seats — two of them — in the EU legislature after finishing fifth with 9.1%. The party is the Czech ally of France's far-right National Rally party led Marine Le Pen.

The moderate euroskeptic Civic Democratic Party was second in the vote, winning four seats, while two pro-European parties, Pirate party and conservative TOP 09, won three seats each.

The first official British results in the European Parliament election bear out predictions of victory for the Brexit Party led by anti-EU campaigner Nigel Farage.

The tally from northeast England, the first of the U.K.'s 12 regions to report, gives the single-issue party, launched just weeks ago, 39% of the vote.

The left-of-center Labour Party, which has traditionally dominated the region, got 19% of the vote, down sharply from 2014.

The pro-EU Liberal Democrats, campaigning to stop Brexit, more than doubled their share to 17% of the vote, while and the governing Conservatives got just 7%, one point behind the Greens.

Many U.K. voters are apparently using the election to protest at Britain's Brexit deadlock.

Hungary's National Election Office says Prime Minister Viktor Orban's ruling Fidesz party has won 13 of Hungary's 21 seats in the EU parliament, one seat more than in the 2014 vote.

With 99.9% of the votes counted Sunday evening, former Socialist Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany's Democratic Coalition has won four seats and the liberal Momentum Movement has captured two seats.

Both the left-wing/green coalition of the Socialist and Dialogue parties, and the right-wing Jobbik party got one seat each, worse than expected.

Voter turnout was above 43%, the highest for an EU parliament election in Hungary, which first took part in the balloting in 2004.

Spain's Socialists have won the European elections ahead of the conservative Popular Party, according to provisional results released by Spain's Interior Ministry.

With 85% of the votes counted, the Socialists will win 32.9% of the vote and 20 seats of the 54 that Spain is allocated in the European Parliament. The conservative Popular Party, which suffered major losses in the April 28 national election, has won 12 seats, down from 16 seats in 2014.

The upstart far-right Vox party is the fifth most popular in Spain, earning three seats, its first time in the European Parliament.

The poor showing for the Popular Party comes after it was crushed in last month's national election. The party has been hurt by corruption allegations and convictions.

The victory will strengthen Sánchez as he tries to form a coalition government.

The Socialists are also hoping to do well in local and regional elections in Spain on Sunday.

Exit polls indicate the right-wing populist League party led by Italy's hard-line interior minister, Matteo Salvini, posted huge gains in this year's European parliamentary election to become Italy's largest party.

The League won between 27% and 31% of the vote, up from 6.2% five years ago. Salvini has been working to expand an alliance of right-wing populist parties in a bid to upend European politics and slow down, if not turn around, the drive toward greater European integration.

In another significant result, the League's government coalition partner, the populist 5-Star Movement, is Italy's third party, behind the Democratic Party, which lost badly in last year's national election.

If the 5-Star Movement's finish behind the Democratic Party is confirmed in the final result, it could have implications for Italy's governing coalition.

Projected results from the European Parliament in Portugal predict a victory for the Socialists of Prime Minister António Costa.

The Socialists are projected to win with nearly 32.5% of the vote, slightly down from 2014 when it took 34%.

The center-right opposition is set to take 22.9%, while the leftist Bloco de Esquerda is projected to get nearly 10.3% of the vote.

Costa will face a national election in Portugal in October.

Voters in ethnically divided Cyprus have elected a Turkish Cypriot to the European Parliament for the first time since the island nation joined the 28-member bloc in 2004.

Niyazi Kizilyurek, who teaches at the University of Cyprus' Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies Department, ran for the communist-rooted AKEL party that was the runner-up in Sunday's European parliament election behind the conservative Democratic Rally party.

Kizilyurek told private TV station Sigma that he'll represent Cyprus and its European citizens, irrespective of ethnic origin.

AKEL leader Andros Kyprianou said the election of Kizilyurek, 60, sends a strong message to other EU nations that Cypriots want an end to their country's division and want more EU help in peace efforts.

Despite earlier opinion polls, far-right party ELAM didn't manage to gain one of Cyprus' six allotted seats at the European Parliament, even though it doubled its support.

The pro-business ALDE group said Sunday's voting projections make it clear that the European Parliament will have a "new balance of power" and the long-dominant European People's Party and Socialists groups will have to share much more power.

Guy Verhofstadt said his group, boosted by the addition of French President Macron's LREM party, will be an essential powerbroker in the negotiations to get a working majority in the legislature and back a candidate to succeed Jean-Claude Juncker as Commission President.

Verhofstadt says the two mainstream parties "will no longer have a majority and it means no solid pro-EU majority is possible" without his ALDE group and others pro-EU parties like the Greens.

Latest projections show the EPP getting 173 seats, down from 217, and the Socialist S&D with 147, down from 186. Together they hold 320 seats in the 751-seat legislature.

Verhofstadt's group is projected to get 102 seats and the Greens 71.

An exit poll shows a huge setback in the European Parliament election for Romania's ruling coalition, led by the Social Democratic Party.

Data released Sunday by pollsters Avangarde and CURS show the Social Democrats, or PSD, getting a 25.8% of the votes, enough only to tie the opposition National Liberal Party, or PNL.

The PSD's junior coalition partner, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats, may get less than the mandatory 5% of votes needed to win a seat in the EU legislature.

Romanian President Klaus Iohannis says the Social Democrats have "failed," adding that the only possible option was that their government "has to go." Critics say the government tolerates corruption.

Prime Minister Viorica Dancila said she wouldn't step down, declaring that "Romanians trust the current government. These were EU, not national, elections."

French President Emmanuel Macron's party is pledging to combat nationalists at the European Parliament and block them from weakening France.

The lead candidate of Macron's centrist party, Nathalie Loiseau, urged all pro-European forces "to unite to defend the interests of the Europeans" and not let the European Union fall into the hands of "those who want to unbuild it."

In France, polling agency estimates show that Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally party is expected to beat Macron's centrist party in the European election.

Loiseau said her party, associated with the pro-market ALDE alliance in a new centrist group, will have a key role as they will represent the third strongest force at the European Parliament.

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said he will continue to implement Macron's policies and planned reforms.

In Greece, New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the protected winner of Sunday's European election, has just called on Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to resign.

Tsipras, who is not obliged to call an early election until his term expires in October, is at the Syriza party headquarters. Top Syriza officials say an early election is not on the cards.

The Interior Ministry's pollster estimates that conservative opposition New Democracy will get 32.8%, while the ruling left-wing Syriza party will get 24%.

In other estimates, the Socialists got 7.8%, the Communist Party saw 5.6%, the far-right Golden Dawn saw 4.8% and the nationalist Greek Solution was projected at 4.1%. The estimate is based on results from 10% of polling stations.

Green leaders in the European Parliament are hailing a "green wave" that has spread throughout Europe after early projections showed the environmentalist movement is likely to make significant gains.

Early projections Sunday suggest the Greens will secure 71 seats in the 751-seat parliament, up from 52 seats five years ago. The Greens appear to have done well in France, Germany and Ireland.

The Greens co-leader in the assembly, Ska Keller, says "the green wave has really spread all over Europe and for us that is a fantastic result."

Fellow Greens leader Philippe Lamberts says the party cannot be avoided as groups begin negotiations in coming days to form alliances in the parliament to counter the likely rise of anti-EU parties.

Lamberts says "to forge a stable European Union, the Greens are indispensable."

An exit poll in Poland shows the nationalist conservative ruling Law and Justice party as the biggest vote-getter in the European Parliament election, with 42.6% of the vote.

If the projection is confirmed by the official results, it would put the party in a strong position ahead of Poland's national parliamentary election in the fall.

The exit poll by the Ipsos agency shows the ruling party's main rival, the European Coalition, running in second place with 39.1%. The coalition is led by the centrist Civic Platform party and includes several other parties.

The exit poll gave Spring, a new center-left party that backs fighting climate change, 6.6% support.

A far-right alliance formed to stand in the European election, Confederation, had 6.6% of the vote according to the exit poll.

The ruling, pro-EU conservatives are projected to win the most votes in the European election in Croatia, the European Union's newest member.

An exit poll carried by the public broadcaster HRT said Sunday that the Croatian Democratic Union will win some 23% of the ballot, followed by the center-left Social Democratic Party with around 17%.

HRT says the exit polls have been conducted by the Ipsos polling agency. Partial official results are expected later in the evening.

The exit polls also indicated that a far-right coalition could win 6.6% of the ballot, or one of the 12 EU seats for Croatia. Local media say the biggest surprise is the third position for an independent list with some 8% of the votes.

First European Parliament projections suggest that mainstream parties have lost ground in the EU elections, with the Greens and far-right and populist parties set to pick up seats.

The projections, based on estimates in 11 EU member countries and voting intentions in 17 others, show that the center-right European People's Party would remain the biggest group with 173 seats, down from 217 in 2014.

The center-left Socialists would lose 40 seats, dropping to 147.

The left-wing Greens seem set to win 71 seats, up from 52 in 2014.

The European of Nations and Freedom group, which combines populist and far-right parties in countries like France and Italy, looks like it will secure 57 seats, up 20 from five years ago.

Despite the losses for mainstream parties, staunchly pro-EU parties are slated to win 493 of the 751 seats in Parliament.

French far-right, nationalist leader Marine Le Pen is declaring victory in the European Parliament election over pro-EU French President Emmanuel Macron.

French polling agencies are projecting that Le Pen's National Rally will come first in France's voting Sunday, followed by Macron's centrist Republic on the Move party.

Le Pen said the expected result "confirms the new nationalist-globalist division" in France and beyond.

She immediately expressed hope the election could foreshadow her party's victory in France's 2022 presidential election. Le Pen was beaten handily by Macron in France's 2017 presidential vote.

She called on Macron to dissolve the French parliament.

Macron says the National Rally represents the "leprosy" of nationalism that is eating the EU from within. For Le Pen, the race is a battle to preserve European civilization from immigration and globalization.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz says he is "invigorated" by a projection showing a big win for his center-right party after a week in which his governing coalition collapsed.

The projection for ORF public television, the Austria Press Agency and private broadcaster ATV pointed to Kurz's center-right People's Party finishing well ahead of the center-left Social Democrats in the European Parliament vote. It also shows Kurz's former coalition partner, the far-right Freedom Party, a distant third.

A scandal surrounding the Freedom Party's now-departed leader brought down the coalition and prompted Kurz to call for an early national election in September.

Kurz still may be unseated by an opposition no-confidence vote in parliament on Monday. But he told supporters on Sunday: "Whatever is going to happen tomorrow and in the following days we are defying the rain, we are defying everything else that is going to come our way. We emerge invigorated."

French polling agency estimates show that Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally party is expected to beat French President Emmanuel Macron's party in the European elections.

The populist, anti-immigrant National Rally is estimated to win 23% to 24% of the vote, compared to 21.9% to 22.5% for Macron's centrist, pro-European party. That's according to estimates by the Ifop and Ipsos polling agencies.

The green party EELV is estimated at 12.8% to 13%, a sharp rise compared to previous European elections.

The French conservative party, The Republicans, is expected to be in fourth position with about 8% support while far-left France Insoumise ("Rebel France") and the Socialist party are both estimated to capture between 6% and 7% support.

In France, polling agencies including Ifop and Ipsos are forecasting the nationwide vote result based on projections from the actual vote count in select constituencies.

The European Parliament spokesman says turnout for this year's pivotal election is nearing 51% for 27 nations, according to preliminary figures.

Jaume Duch Guillot says the figure, which excludes Britain, is the highest in at least 20 years and reverses years of steady decline. U.K. figures are expected later Sunday evening, as final tallies roll in for an election that both centrist parties and the far-right have portrayed as a referendum on sovereignty and the European Union.

Four days of voting will end Sunday, and 426 million people across 28 nations were eligible to vote for the makeup of the European Parliament. In the case of Britain, voters are electing legislators who will lose their jobs when Brexit is finalized.

It is, Guillot said, "very significant increase in turnout for the very first time since the first European elections took place in 1979."

In Greece, an updated exit poll shows the conservative opposition New Democracy party winning between 32.5% to 34.5% of Sunday's vote for the European Parliament.

Greece's governing left-wing Syriza is projected to get between 24% and 26%. The socialists of Movement for Change are expected to see between 7.2% to 8.2% support; the Communists between 5% to 6%; while the extreme-right Golden Dawn and the nationalist Greek Solution both are projected to get 4% to 5% support.

The threshold to elect one of Greece's 21 European lawmakers is 3%. The exit poll was conducted jointly by five polling firms.

Greece is also voting for regional and local councils Sunday.

Voters from 21 EU nations went to the polls Sunday in the final day of a crucial European Parliament election.

The Greens are celebrating projected strong gains in Germany in the European Parliament elections and a good showing in Ireland.

An exit poll published by the European Parliament says that in Germany, the Greens finished second with 22% support, double their result five years ago. The poll shows that in Ireland the Green Party was in a three-way tie for second place behind the governing Fine Gael party.

Ska Keller of the European Greens hailed the results Sunday evening. She says, "it is a great celebration but it's also a great responsibility. It is a great task to now put into action those things that people asked us to do: Climate protection, social justice in Europe and fighting for civil liberties all over."

The strong showings for the Greens follow protests by students and activists across Europe calling for faster action to tackle climate change.

In Bulgaria, the ruling center-right GERB party is projected to come in first in the European election in that nation, according to an exit poll jointly conducted by two Bulgarian polling firms.

The poll by Alpha Research and Gallup International says GERB is projected to win 30% to 33% of the vote, compared to 23% to 25% for the opposition Socialist party.

The liberal Movement for Rights and Freedoms party is projected to win 13%, while a nationalist formation, the VMRO, and the right-wing Democratic Bulgaria party are projected to get between 6% and 8% each.

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev says "we need a united and strong Europe" based on solidarity.

Voters from 21 EU nations went to the polls Sunday in the final day of a crucial European Parliament election that could see gains by nationalists and far-right movements. The EU's other seven nations voted earlier this week but results on all the voting will not be released until after all polls close Sunday night.

The center-right candidate to lead the European Union Executive's Commission is promising to bring "stability" to the European Union over the next few years and predicts pro-EU forces will lead the next parliament.

Manfred Weber, the candidate of the European People's Party, said in Berlin that Sunday's European Parliament elections appear to have weakened the political center. He says it's "most necessary for the forces that believe in this Europe, that want to lead this Europe to a good future, that have ambitions for this Europe, ... (to) work together."

He said those forces have to have a "clear division" from other political groups who oppose Europe on both the right and the left.

Weber said the EPP will be "hopefully the strongest group" in the new European parliament. He said "we promised stability, and (we) will guarantee this stability in the coming years."

Spain's Interior Ministry says turnout for the European elections at 6 p.m. (1600 GMT) is up to 49.3% from nearly 34.1% in 2014.

Spain is also holding local and some regional elections Sunday, including the highly watched races for the mayor of Madrid and Barcelona. The 2014 European elections were held alone.

Still, turnout was down from Spain's April 28 national election, when it was nearly 60.8% at 1600 GMT.

In Barcelona, a Catalan separatist candidate is trying to oust its incumbent far-left mayor, who says she does not support secession but believes that Catalans should vote on the question.

In Greece, the conservative opposition New Democracy party is projected to win the European election, according to an exit poll jointly conducted by five Greek polling firms.

New Democracy is projected to win 32% to 36% of the vote, compared to 25% to 29% for the ruling left-wing Syriza.

The socialist Movement for Change is projected to win 7% to 9%, while the extreme right Golden Dawn and the Communist party are expected to get between 5% and 7% each.

Two more parties, far-right nationalist Greek Solution and Diem25, the Greek section of former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis' European movement, have a chance to exceed the 3% threshold required for sending a representative to the European Parliament.

The poll, with 7,000 respondents, was conducted until 5 p.m. (1400 GMT), two hours before voting ended, and will be updated.

An exit poll shows Germany's governing parties losing significant ground in the European Parliament election, with big gains for the Greens party and a much smaller increase for the far-right.

The ARD television exit poll put support for Chancellor Angela Merkel's center-right Union bloc at 28% and showed their coalition partners in Berlin, the center-left Social Democrats, dropping to a dismal 15.5%. Five years ago, those parties took 35.4% and 27.3% respectively of the vote.

It showed the Greens easily taking second place with 22% — double their result five years ago. The far-right Alternative for Germany was seen with 10.5% support, better than its showing in 2014 but less than it scored in Germany's last national election in 2017.

France's Interior Ministry says turnout for the European Parliament election was up in the country compared to previous vote.

In France, turnout was over 43% at 5 p.m. (1500GMT), compared with 35% at the same time in 2014. Polls remain open until 8 p.m. in the country's big cities.

Several French poll institutes estimate that the final turnout may be over 50% at the end of the day, which would be a first in the country since 1994.

A similar rise in turnout has been observed in neighboring Spain and Germany.

In the whole European Union, turnout for this pan-European vote has trended downward since the first election in 1979. Turnout stood at less than 43% in the 2014 vote.

A projection for Austrian public television and the country's national news agency points to a big win for Chancellor Sebastian Kurz's center-right party in the European Parliament election, with the far-right Freedom Party finishing far behind in third place.

The projection was released after polls closed Sunday in Austria. It put support for Kurz's center-right People's Party at 34.5%, with the center-left Social Democrats at 23.5%, the Freedom Party at 17.5% and the Greens at 13.5% support.

It was based on 5,200 interviews conducted from Tuesday to Sunday.

The vote for the joint European Parliament is a the first test in Austria ahead of a national election in September that Kurz called a week ago after a scandal erupted surrounding the Freedom Party's leader. Heinz-Christian Strache quit as party leader and vice chancellor, and the governing coalition between the People's Party and the Freedom Party then collapsed.

Italy's anti-migrant hard-line Interior Minister Matteo Salvini says he feels a "change in the air" and that a win by his right-wing League party would "change everything in Europe."

Salvini's League is seeking to form an alliance of nationalist, populist parties to exert more power in the European Parliament over the affairs of the European Union. He's campaigned relentlessly throughout Italy and has become the face of Europe's far-right by speaking out against migrants and the influence of Muslims in Europe.

The League party, once just a regional power in northern Italy, is gaining strength throughout the country. It's the junior partner in a coalition government with the populist 5-Star Movement, but the coalition is on rocky ground. Salvini may be tempted to end the partnership to seek a new election in Italy if his electoral gains on the European front are significant.

But on Sunday, he voted in the European election and dismissed speculation about seeking new elections.

He told reporters "I'm interested in winning in Italy to change Europe," according to the Italian news agency ANSA.

Turnout appears to be up in several of the European Union's largest countries for the continentwide battle for influence at the European Parliament.

Turnout was up slightly in Spain, France and Germany by mid-afternoon.

In Spain, turnout was up to 35% compared to 24% at the same time in the last European elections in 2014. Spain is also holding municipal and some regional elections —including for mayor of Madrid and Barcelona— while in 2014 the European elections were separate.

In Germany, the federal election authority said that 29% of registered voters had cast ballots by 2 p.m., four hours before polls closed. That's up from 26% at the same time in 2014. The figure doesn't include postal votes.

And in France, turnout was at 19% at noon, compared with 16% at the same time in 2014.

The leader of Spain's upstart far-right Vox party, Santiago Abascal, asked Spaniards to make "their voice heard" after he cast his ballot in Madrid.

"We come to these elections calling for participation from all Spaniards in accordance to their convictions and principles," Abascal said. "We want to tell them that it is important that each Spaniard has their voice in the municipal and regional institutions, also in the European institutions as, often, this is not seen with much interest by citizens."

Vox erupted into the Spanish political scene in December when it won its first seats in the regional legislature for the Andalusia region. It then won 10% of the vote in national elections on April 28 to enter the Spanish Parliament.

Founded in 2013, Vox failed to win a seat in 2014 European elections, its first electoral test.

Unlike other European far-right parties, Vox is not anti-European Union despite its ultranationalist ideology.

Anti-EU and pro-EU parties are both hoping to make gains in a Brexit-dominated election for British seats in the European Parliament, while the governing Conservative Party is bracing for one of its worst-ever performances.

Daniel Hannan, a Conservative Member of the European Parliament, said he feared the party was facing "total wipeout" and would fail to gain any of Britain's 73 seats.

The Conservatives look likely to be punished for failing to take the country out of the EU as promised. Opinion polls suggest the newly founded Brexit Party led by Nigel Farage is set to take the biggest share of votes. There could also be a surge for the centrist Liberal Democrats, who want to stop Brexit.

In the last EU election in 2014, Farage's former UKIP party won 27% of the vote, helping to build momentum in the push to get Britain out of the EU.

Spaniards in the restive northeastern region of Catalonia are voting in European elections that include two high-profile separatist leaders who are running from jail and self-imposed exile.

Former Catalan regional president Carles Puigdemont and his ex-No. 2 Oriol Junqueras are both running on competing tickets of separatist parties for the European Parliament.

Junqueras is in jail in Madrid while on trial on charges that include rebellion for his part in Catalonia's attempt to secede from the rest of Spain in 2017. Puigdemont is wanted in Spain and fled to Belgium.

Both have been allowed to run as candidates, but would face legal hurdles to actually become European Parliament members if elected.

Polls and recent election results show that the 7.5 million residents of the wealthy Catalonia region are roughly split by the secession issue. It is highly unpopular in the rest of Spain.

"I think a lot is at stake for Catalonia in the European elections," Manuel Guajardo, a 57-year-old businessman, said after voting in Barcelona. "It will be the definition of a people, to take a path or another path, and these elections will mark this."

Barcelona is also holding municipal elections, where a separatist candidate is trying to oust its incumbent far-left mayor, who says she does not support secession but believes that Catalans should vote on the question.

In Castelbuono, a Medieval mountain town in Sicily's province of Palermo, a steady but sluggish stream of voters is showing up to cast ballots.

Many of the town's residents are backing the 5-Star Movement, a populist party now in a coalition government with the anti-migrant League party.

One of these is Vincenzo Messineo, a 32-year-old laborer who's concerned about youth unemployment and the influx of migrants.

"We don't want them all here," he said. "Europe is united so why can't they be divided among other countries too?"

For Anna Maria Ippolito, a 62-year-old 5-Star Movement supporter, financial inequality is a top concern.

"Six percent of the Italian population has all the wealth," she said. "It's not at all right. Paying the taxes that we do now just lets the rich get richer and the poor poorer."

On Europe, she thinks it's time to rein in the big guns. "Up to now, it's all been about Germany and France," she said. "They're the ones dragging us into this European disaster."

Migrants are on the mind of Silvia Bonomo, too, but she feels Europe needs to "open itself up" and do more to welcome people fleeing war and hardships. The 62-year-old middle-school teacher voted for the center-left Democratic Party.

"They wouldn't be coming if they didn't have a reason to," she said. "Migrants are seen as stealing jobs, which they are not. They're seen as criminals, which they are not. They are just like us."

People's Party Our Slovakia, a far right party that has 14 seats in Slovakia's parliament is expected to win seats in the European legislature for the first time.

The party openly admires the Nazi puppet state that the country was during World War II. Party members use Nazi salutes, blame Roma for crime, consider NATO a terror group and want the country out of the alliance and of the European Union.

The party received a boost in April after Slovakia's Supreme Court dismissed a request by the country's prosecutor general to ban it as an extremist group whose activities violate the Constitution.

Turnout in Slovakia at the previous vote in 2014 was 13%, the lowest in all EU countries.

The polls favor the leftist Smer-Social Democracy party, the senior member of the current coalition government, to top the voting with about 20%. Slovakia has 14 seats in the European Parliament.

The center-right German candidate to head the European Commission says he hopes voters will back a "Europe of stability" and a united and ambitious continent.

Manfred Weber, whose European People's Party group hopes to retain its status as the biggest in the European Parliament, said after voting in his native Bavaria Sunday: "I don't want to see a right-populist Europe (that) wants to destroy the idea of togetherness ... and I'm also against a Europe which is in the hands of the left."

Ska Keller, a German Green who heads her group's European election slate, said in Berlin that "the European Union should lead the way in climate protection. We need social cohesion, we need to strengthen democracy in Europe and I hope that this will meet with much support."

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz says he hopes the European Parliament elections will strengthen the center rather than parties on the far right and left.

Kurz told reporters in Vienna Sunday that he hopes his center-right People's Party will keep first place in the race for seats in the EU legislature.

The vote has turned into a first test of support ahead of a national election in September following the collapse of Kurz's governing coalition a week ago in a scandal surrounding the now-departed leader of the far-right Freedom Party, which was his junior coalition partner.

Regardless of the result, Kurz faces a no-confidence vote brought by the opposition in parliament Monday. He said he expects the Freedom Party and the Social Democrats to back it, which would bring him down.

Spanish caretaker Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez says that he hopes the outcome of Sunday's European and local elections will lead to more "political stability" for Spain as he starts his attempt to form a government.

Sánchez called on "all the political forces to open a horizon of political stability" after he voted early Sunday morning with his wife in Madrid.

He added that the elections are "to decide the future of progress and wellbeing for the entirety of our country and Europe."

Voter opinion polls point to a victory for Sánchez's Socialist Party in the European elections. Elections are also taking place for administrations in all Spain's cities, including deciding on a second term for the female mayors of Madrid and Barcelona, and 14 of its 19 regions.

Sánchez's Socialists won April 28 national elections in Spain, but fell short of winning an outright majority and will need to earn the support from rivals in Parliament to stay in power.

Hungary's prime minister says he hopes the European Parliament election will bring a shift toward political parties that want to stop migration.

Viktor Orban said Sunday after casting his vote at a school near his Budapest home that the issue of migration, which he believes is stoppable, "will reorganize the political spectrum in the European Union."

Orban, whose Fidesz party had its membership suspended in the center-right European People's Party, the largest political bloc in the EU parliament, because of concerns about Hungary's democracy, said Fidesz would want to stay in the EPP only if it can influence the group's future strategy.

Orban met recently with Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini, but has not committed to joining the more radically nationalist alliance that Salvini has been forming.

Fidesz is expected to win up to 14 of Hungary's 21 seats in the EU parliament.

Belgians are heading to the polls in European Union, national and regional elections Sunday.

Polls opened at 8 a.m. (0700GMT) and the first estimates and exit polls were expected by 6 p.m. (1700GMT). In the national elections Belgians are looking to end months of political limbo after the biggest party in the governing coalition quit over Prime Minister Charles Michel's support for the U.N. migration pact.

Michel has steered a caretaker government doing only day-to-day business since December, but with the country's 8 million voters choosing from more than a dozen parties, chances are that it will prove difficult to quickly form a stable coalition.

Bulgarians are voting in the European Parliament elections after a series of scandals overshadowed the debate on key issues of the EU's future.

Voters on Sunday are casting ballots for their country's 17 seats in the 751-member European Parliament. The vote is seen as a test for the center-right party of Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, which suffered a setback after senior officials were involved in corruption scandals.

Latest surveys show only three parties, belonging to mainstream European political groups, passing the election threshold — the ruling GERB party, the Socialist party, and the liberal MRF.

Projections suggest the nationalist and far-right vote will be split between several smaller parties, which could prevent them from capturing seats in the EU legislature. </s> The UK will take to the polls to vote in the European Parliamentary elections on Thursday, May, 23. As Theresa May has not agreed her withdrawal deal with Parliament, the UK has to participate and elected Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). There are a total of 751 members of European Parliament, who represent more than 512 million people across 28 member states.

Of these 751 MEPs, 73 represent the UK from across 12 regional constituencies. What is a proxy vote? How to get a proxy vote A proxy vote is one which does not take place in person at the polling station, rather someone can cast it for you. If you are unable to vote in person, you can nominate someone you trust to cast your vote for you. Read More: European elections EXPLAINED: What is the d’Hondt system?

In order to apply for a proxy vote, you must be 18 or over on polling day. You must choose someone who is willing and capable to cast a vote on your behalf. There is a proxy vote application form in which you must give the reason for not being able to vote in person. For example, this can be through illness or being abroad on holiday when voting will take place. Read More: Euro Elections: Nigel Farage predicts disaster for Labour at polls

You need to complete all seconds of the form and give your birth date and sign the document - information which is needed to prevent fraud. The form must be returned to your electoral registration office, not the Electoral Commission. The deadline for new proxy voting applications is six working days before the election, which makes the deadline for the European elections Wednesday, May 15 at 5 pm. To change or cancel an existing proxy, postal or postal proxy vote this must have been submitted 11 working days before the vote - so cannot be done for the upcoming European elections. Read More: European elections 2019: Can you vote tactically? How? </s> Voters in The Gambia are casting their ballots in the first election since the departure of long-time leader Yahya Jammeh, with multiple parties poised to enter parliament after 22 years of effective one-party rule.

More than 880,000 Gambians are eligible to vote, with the polling stations open until 17:00 GMT on Thursdy.

Dozens queued early in the morning at roadside polling stations to be among the first to cast their ballots.



"Things are equal, that's why you have a lot of participants," Ousman Manneh, 34, an assistant returning officer at a polling station in Bakau, a town not far from The Gambia's capital, Banjul, told the AFP news agency.

The first results are expected during the evening and a full set on Friday morning.

READ MORE: Change is coming fast in The Gambia - and it's intoxicating

There are 53 seats up for grabs in The Gambia's National Assembly, five more than in 2012, according to the Independent Electoral Commission.

Five extra places are to be appointed by President Adama Barrow to give a total of 58 seats in the legislative chamber, which was long derided as a rubberstamp for Jammeh's executive orders.

"Never has there been so many people wanting a seat in parliament," Al Jazeera's Nicolas Haque, reporting from Banjul, said.

"Most are young, first-time independent candidates."

Several opposition parties united to form a coalition in December to oust Jammeh from power and deliver Barrow to victory as the new president.



But internal tensions caused that coalition to break apart, meaning nine parties will run in Thursday's legislative polls including Jammeh's Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC) and the strongest traditional opposition force, the United Democratic Party (UDP).

READ MORE: 'It's a great time to be Gambian'

They face a significant threat from the Gambia Democratic Congress (GDC), a youth-led party which did not join the governing coalition, and whose leader Mama Kandeh came third in the presidential poll.

The African Union, regional ECOWAS bloc and the European Union have all sent observers to monitor voters casting their ballots with The Gambia's unique system, where marbles are dropped into coloured metal barrels representing different candidates.

Barrow, who won December's presidential race, was a former UDP treasurer who resigned to run as the candidate of an unprecedented opposition coalition.

After a drawn-out crisis caused by Jammeh's initial refusal to step down, mediation efforts by west African leaders and the threat of military intervention eventually delivered the country's first ever democratic transition in January.

Barrow's cabinet is made up of the heads of seven different political parties, all of which will field candidates in Thursday's election. </s> Catalonia’s new parliament has elected a pro-secession speaker, virtually guaranteeing the push for independence for Spain’s northeastern region will go ahead.

The opening session of the new Catalan assembly came amid looming questions about the role that fugitive and jailed politicians will play within the chamber’s separatist majority and the future regional government.

Ousted Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, who fled to Belgium in October to dodge a Spanish judicial probe, wants to be reinstated to his old job.

But he faces arrest if he returns to Spain and legal hurdles if he wants to be voted in from abroad by the regional assembly.

Poll: Majority of Scots don’t want Indyref2 in next five years

Mr Puigdemont’s seat and other empty seats in the parliament were adorned with a yellow ribbon today.

Four ex-Cabinet members sought by Spain’s Supreme Court are also in Brussels and three more elected lawmakers, including former Catalan Vice President Oriol Junqueras, have been jailed on provisional charges of rebellion or sedition.

Other former Cabinet members and parliamentary officials have been released from jail, but remain under investigation.

Spanish central authorities took direct control of Catalonia following the unilateral declaration of independence by separatist lawmakers on 27 October.

Under special powers, Spain fired Mr Puigdemont’s government, dissolved parliament and forced a new regional election on 21 December in the hope of halting the secession drive.

But contrary to Madrid’s hopes, separatists regained their slim parliamentary majority despite receiving less than half of the votes, although Ciutadans (Citizens) – a party that fiercely opposes independence – gained the most seats.

Several hundred people rallied near the parliament in central Barcelona, waving separatist flags as they watched the new house speaker’s election on a large outdoor screen.

Roger Torrent, a lawmaker with the left-republican ERC party, was elected to head the assembly’s governing committee that plays a key role in deciding what issues are debated and voted on in parliament.

“I want democracy and coexistence to be the foundations of this term,” Mr Torrent told fellow lawmakers from the speaker’s podium as he vowed to restore the self-government of Catalonia that is now in the hands of Madrid.

He also said, as speaker, he would defend the right of “all 135 voices in the chamber”, including those fugitive or in jail.

But Ciutadans leader Ines Arrimadas criticised the inaugural session, saying, “We start the legislature as we finished the last one, with a parliament speaker who is going to work only for independence.”

However, Ms Arrimadas pointed out things had changed in the parliament because the secessionist bloc now had fewer seats and votes and the independence stance had no international support.

“No matter what happens, we are going to be the guarantors for Catalonia not to make any independence declaration,” she said.

Although Ms Arrimadas’ party won the most seats – 36 – unlike the secessionist bloc, she lacks enough support to form a government.

Mr Torrent is tasked with choosing a candidate to try to form a government by the end of the month.

The two secessionist parties back the candidacy of Mr Puigdemont, but the former president would first have to get approval from Mr Torrent’s committee to vote and be elected from abroad.

Elsa Artadi, spokeswoman for Mr Puigdemont’s Junts per Catalunya (Together for Catalonia), said the separatists were “working to explore all the tools in the parliament’s rules to see what will be the formula”.

Parliamentary legal advisers said in a report this week Mr Puigdemont could not be sworn in via video link or by having a proxy candidate as he must debate his candidacy in person in parliament.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has also vowed to maintain direct rule over Catalonia if the fugitive separatist politician tries to resume office from Brussels.

The parties that promote Catalan independence jointly hold 66 seats in Catalonia’s parliament and also have support from four pro-independence, anti-establishment lawmakers.

Polls consistently show that most Catalans want the right to decide the region’s future, but are evenly divided over splitting from Spain.

‘He’s extremely vigorous’: Jeremy Corbyn not too old to be Labour leader </s> Voters have been going to the polls today for European elections widely expected to be defined by apathy and anger.

Polls are open for the European Parliamentary elections until 10pm to elect MEPs who will represent the Yorkshire and Humber region.

Despite fears of a low turnout, there was a slow but steady trickle at the Forge polling station on Cottage Beck Road in Scunthorpe this morning.

For some, frustration about delays over Brexit was what motivated them to go out and vote in today's elections, which if pollsters are correct, is expected to result in large support for The Brexit Party.

Britain was initially due to leave the European Union on March 29 but two extensions have now delayed Brexit until October 31.

The Government had hoped to pass a Withdrawal Agreement through Parliament to remove the need to hold European Parliamentary elections and leave the EU sooner, but a majority has yet to be reached in the House Of Commons on any deal.

After casting his vote in Scunthorpe, Graham Wilkinson said: "Politics is a shambles at the moment. I wanted to vote for change and get Brexit. I wouldn't vote for any of the other charlatans."

Others said they felt it was their duty to use their right vote, no matter what the election.

Darryl Hewes said: "I think it's important to vote every time you can, whether it's a meaningless election like this or a general election. There's a lot of people all around the world that don't have the opportunity to vote.

"It might not mean a lot in the grand scheme, but it's important to do it anyway."

Neville Watson said: "I vote in every election, no matter what it's for. There's no point in having a vote if you don't use it."

Pollster YouGov has predicted that Nigel Farage's newly-formed Brexit Party will win three seats in the Yorkshire and Humber region following today's election. A recent poll had the Brexit Party on 33 per cent, Labour on 18, the Lib Dems on 16, the Greens on 13, the Conservatives on eight, Change UK on four and Ukip on three.

A full list of candidates standing for election in the Yorkshire and Humber region is available here.

The MEPs elected will represent the UK until it leaves the European Union, whether that is a matter of months or years.

Polls will be open until 10pm tonight. However, the results will not be announced until late on Sunday evening once all countries in the European Union have voted, with candidates from the Yorkshire and Humber region travelling to Leeds for the announcement.

The EU voting system uses the unconventional d'Hondt system which tends to let smaller parties perform better electorally - find out more about this and all your other European election questions here. </s> Those who travel across Germany these days will get the impression that the country has two faces: There are some regions that seem like they always do, the odd election campaign poster on display, but nothing more. In other regions, however, every lamppost is decorated with portraits of at least two smiling candidates. In addition, giant billboards have been installed on every village square and you won't be able to do your weekend shopping in the local supermarket without being cornered by a zealous election campaigner.

Nine of Germany's 16 states will see regional elections on Sunday, and the residents of Bremen will elect the new state parliament. In those regions, the campaigns are running in full force, with lavish use of posters and other materials, with candidates fighting for every single vote and every single mandate.

Read more: Juncker says history will prove Merkel right on refugees

Despite all of the punditry about the importance of the European Parliament elections for the EU's future, Germany's political parties attach more importance to local councils in Saarland and Saxony than to the blocwide legistlature. Above all, the current lackluster European election campaign is no match for all the extravagance which is traditionally evident in the run-up to federal elections in this country.

Read more: Who is Boris Johnson, Brexit champion and wannabe British PM?

Those are not really the best of prerequisites to improve the voter turnout of just under 48% during the 2014 elections for the European Parliament. By German standards, this turnout was embarrassingly low, but it was still 5% higher than the EU average. At a mere 13%, Slovakia and its voters marked a record low turnout at the time.

Read more: Don't vote CDU or SPD or AfD, German YouTubers say

Pollsters believe that things will be different this time. They have noted a distinctively higher mobilization of voters across the European Union and determined a fairly obvious reason for this: Members of the public are increasingly flocking to polling stations because they want to stop a massive swing toward nationalism.

Almost every election in Germany during the past four years saw increased voter turnout, and nonetheless the far-right Alternative for Germany party usually achieved excellent results. In the old days, there was a rule of thumb: the higher the turnout, the lower the success at the fringes of the political spectrum. Today, however, it has to be acknowledged that the right-wing populists in particular win over many voters who had preferred to stay at home during previous elections.

In any case, the results achieved by the nationalists will be the main topic on Sunday night. Will the incriminating Ibiza video that brought down Austria's governing coalition have an effect on the performance of kindred parties that goes beyond the country's borders? Or will nationalist parties win the 20%-25% EU-wide predicted by some pollsters? And what would that mean? Would it really spell the beginning of the end of the success story called European Union?

Read more: German political parties go green for EU 'climate election'

No. It wouldn't be as simple as that, despite all the shock waves such a result would certainly send through the European Union. The main prerequisite, after all, would be that Europe's right-wing populists and nationalists sing from the same hymn sheet and establish a united parliamentary party in the European Parliament. At the moment, just three of their factions make up such a parliamentary party, the ENF. Nationalists everywhere, unite? The contradiction is evident here, and so the threat for the European Union to emanate from its parliament is comparatively low. Every nationalist or right-wing populist government of a member state can cause considerably more damage via blockade tactics at any Council of Ministers or summit.

With respect to the legitimacy and future power of the European Parliament, the message must be: The biggest haters of democracy and of a united Europe are those who care about neither democracy nor Europe and show that by not even bothering to vote.

DW's newsletter delivers the day's news and features by email. You can sign up to receive it here. </s> The European Parliament elections are not unlike cricket. Both can last for quite a few days and it can be pretty hard to understand the rules. This year’s European elections take place between May 23rd and 26th and different countries vote on different days.

It’s not surprising that few people bother to vote in these elections, either because they find the whole process too complicated or because they find it boring (some people feel the same about cricket).

READ ALSO: Falling turnout at European elections: the reasons

But this year’s vote is shaping up to be more interesting than most. The populist surge across Europe is being felt in Brussels, as eurosceptic parties aim to cause trouble from inside. The UK’s failure to secure a Brexit deal has left it in the bizarre position of needing to stand candidates despite its planned departure from the bloc.

Parties across the political spectrum have launched initiatives to encourage 400 million EU citizens to register and vote. The European Parliament (EP) launched the “This time I’m voting” campaign with the same objective, and an app with information about registration and voting in all member states.

Here’s how the vote will work and why these elections are actually very important.

EU citizens will be voting to fill 751 seats in the European Parliament. Although, if the UK pulls out at the last minute in the unlikely event of agreeing a Brexit deal, they will be voting to fill 705 seats.

EU citizens vote for the candidates or parties of their country of origin or residence, provided that they are registered. Those living overseas can use their country’s embassies, consulates or schools to vote for a candidate running in their home country. The minimum age is 18 except in Austria and Malta (where it’s 16) and Greece (where it’s 17). Voting is compulsory in Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece and Luxembourg – although this rule is not always enforced.

READ ALSO: European elections: How UK vote could help predict outcome of a second Brexit referendum

Each member state is allocated a certain number of seats in the European Parliament, according to the size of its population (economic indicators or size of the territory don’t matter in this case). France, for example, currently has 74 seats, Malta and Luxembourg have six MEPs each and the UK has 73.

Voting processes vary significantly from one country to another, but they all include some element of proportional representation. For example, Ireland has three constituencies (Dublin, Midlands-North-West and South) and voters rank the candidates, as many or as few as they wish, in order of choice.

France used to divide its candidates into eight constituencies but these have now been abolished. This year, voters will instead choose from a single electoral list – meaning they vote for a party and not for individual candidates. Bulgaria also has a single constituency, but voters can indicate their candidate preferences within the party list they choose. Estonian citizens and permanent residents can vote online.

How is the parliament organised after the vote?

Once elected, MEPs are organised by transnational groups that reflect their political affiliation. The current parliament has eight groups. These include the centre-left Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) and Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF), which brings together the French National Rally, the Italian League and other far-right parties.



 Marine Le Pen of France's National Rally and Matteo Salvini of Italy's League. Photo: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP

The largest group is the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), which has 216 MEPS. This includes Angela Merkel’s CDU and Viktor Orbán’s FIDESZ (although he has been suspended by the group until further notice). There are also 21 MEPs who do not belong to any group.

The party with the largest number of seats gets to appoint the president of the European Commission, a position currently held by former Jean-Claude Juncker, the former prime minister of Luxembourg. The president is akin to a conductor: he or she sets the tempo and makes sure the orchestra plays in a harmonious way but they cannot choose the repertoire alone. In the European Parliament, no party family has the majority of the seats so they have to reach out to other groups, working together to to approve legislation.

READ ALSO: Juncker vows to fight 'fake news' before European elections

Why is there a European parliament?

The idea that there should be a parliamentary assembly to represent the citizens of the member states dates back to 1952, when the Coal and Steel Community (the precursor of the European Community) was established. At that time, the 142 members were national parliamentarians appointed by their respective governments. They played only a marginal role, while the “real” decisions were made by the member states.

The first direct elections to the parliament took place in 1979 and the body has, over time, developed political muscle. Together with the European Council (which represents the member states), the parliament is now responsible for preparing and adopting the EU budget – which amounts to €165.8 billion in 2019.

The parliament legislates on all kinds of important issues, from food standards to LGBT rights. In March, for example, 560 of the 751 MEPs voted in a new law banning single-use plastic items such as plates and cutlery by 2021.

Why is there such a low turnout?

Despite the important role the parliament plays, voter turnout has dropped from 62 percent in 1979 to 43 percent in 2014. In some countries, participation is incredibly low. Only 13 percent of Slovakian voters went to the polls in the last elections.

In some of the newer member states, the perception that voting doesn’t make any difference, together with mistrust in politicians and in politics in general, keeps people from participating.

Europe’s media also doesn’t cover the parliament’s work much, so people don’t pay attention to it. It rarely goes viral, and when it does, it’s usually for the wrong reasons.

This all combines to give the impression that the parliament is not an organisation to be taken seriously. But the European Parliament is, in many ways, the human face of the European Union. It is made up of people from different countries, who all bring different stories and experiences – people like the Polish MEP Marek Plura, an advocate for policies that promote a more inclusive society for people with disabilities (he suffers himself from a degenerative illness).

Nevertheless, there is still room for improvement when it comes to gender balance and ethnic diversity in the parliament. Women make up just 37 percent of the 751 MEPs, and less than 20 MEPs identify themselves as non-white (there are no official statistics on this because several states are against collecting data on ethnicity).

Despite the low levels of participation in European elections, it’s worth noting that 50 percent of Europeans say they trust the institution, while only 34 percent feel the same about national governing bodies.

On average, 68 percent of European citizens believe their country has benefited from EU membership. People like the idea of easily travelling to another country and are attached to the Euro (France’s Marine Le Pen and Italy’s Matteo Salvini changed their discourse about the single currency after they were confronted with that evidence). And in Romania, Spain and Poland, EU membership is often regarded as a sort of antidote to the excesses of national governments.

READ ALSO: Five reasons why the European elections really do matter

The European parliament is also often to be found leading the charge on issues that are truly important to European citizens such as environmental protection, transparency and data protection.

Recent protests in France and in other countries have shown that EU institutions have not properly addressed some of their citizens’ most crucial concerns. Many of these concerns have less to do with national issues such as immigration and political parties and more to do with a broader hope for a brighter, fairer and happier future. As a transnational body, the European Parliament has a unique role to play in addressing these big issues, and communicating them to the public.

Tatiana Coutto, Teaching Fellow, Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Warwick

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.
In addition to the European Parliament and regional elections, voters in Belgium head to the polls to vote for the members of the Chamber of Representatives.