A total of 251 candidates were nominated in the European Parliament elections 2014. Of the candidates, 150 are men and 101 women. Of the sixteen registered political parties, fourteen nominated candidates. In addition to the political parties, one constituency association nominated one candidate.
The average age of candidates in the European Parliament elections 2014 is 45.0 years, which is more than three years lower than in the 2009 European Parliament elections (48.2 years). There are 38 candidates aged under 30, whereas in the previous European Parliament elections there were 29 candidates aged under 30. Altogether, 41 candidates are aged 60 or over, while in the 2009 elections they numbered 55. The political party, whose candidates have the lowest average age in the European Parliament elections 2014, is the Pirate Party of Finland (average age 35) while the For the Poor party has the oldest candidates (average age 63).
Women are in the majority among the nominations of only three parties: The Green League (12 female candidates and 8 male candidates), the National Coalition Party (11 female candidates and 9 male candidates), and For the Poor, whose all five candidates are women. The other parties nominated more men candidates than women.
In the 28 countries of the European Union, the elections for the Members of European Parliament are held between 22 and 25 May 2014. In Finland, the election day is 25 May 2014. Advance voting takes place in Finland on 14 to 20 May 2014 and abroad on 14 to 17 May 2014. The elections for the Members of the European Parliament (European Parliament elections) are held in each Member State in accordance with the national election legislation. In addition, the stipulations of the EU’s election regulation are followed. A total of 751 members are elected for the Parliament's five-year term 2014 to 2019, and 13 of these members are elected from Finland.
In the Finnish European Parliament elections, candidates can be nominated by registered political parties and constituency associations established by persons entitled to vote. Parties can form electoral alliances and constituency associations can form joint lists. Each party or electoral alliance can nominate at most 20 candidates, all candidates are nominated for the whole country.
ISSN=1798-291X. Nomination of candidates 2014. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 26.4.2019].