Importance of voting

Decisions on the future of Europe are made at the Elections to the European Parliament

The European Parliament exercises wide-ranging powers. Together with the Council of Ministers it decides on almost all EU laws and the EU budget. If the Parliament and Council of Ministers do not agree, it is impossible to make any decisions in the European Union.

With the Treaty of Lisbon the Parliament’s powers have increased. Now the Parliament has more say in passing laws.

Members of the European Parliament represent you

Every member of the European Parliament (MEP) has a lot of influence. They represent the citizens of their own countries.

Every MEP is a member of some Committee. The Committees prepare special issues for the sessions of the Parliament. By working in the Committees, the MEPs become experts. Every proposal for a law is presented by a MEP. It is a position many MEPs want. The people chosen for this position are competent MEPs with good intrapersonal skills.

All representatives chosen by voters

All the members of the European Parliament are elected by direct public ballot. It is only by voting that you can have a say in who will be elected to the Parliament.

In the European parliamentary elections the whole of Finland is a single election district. In this way, the voters can choose from among all the candidates. Altogether there will be about 200 candidates in the country.