50.6 percent - that was the turnout in the vote on the European Parliament in May. The quota rose again for the first time since 1994. A decisive contribution was made especially by young people. This is clear from a survey of the European Parliament. Thus, participation among voters under the age of 25 rose by 14 percentage points, and among the 25- to 39-year-olds by 12 points.
Both groups were still below the average, namely 42 and 47 percent, respectively. Nevertheless, the increase helped to drive up the quota after a long time again. In 2014, only 42.6 percent of eligible voters in the 28 EU countries had gone to the polls.
In June, the European Parliament commissioned a Eurobarometer survey of 27,464 Europeans, ages 15+, to find out what motivated voters and non-voters.
- The most common reason to vote was therefore a sense of duty: 52 percent called this justification - that is 11 percentage points more than in 2014.
- 25 percent said they supported the EU, also an increase of 11 points.
- 22 percent said the planned Brexit had influenced their decision to go to the polls.
Dissatisfaction and lack of interest
Among the non-voters were the reasons most frequently mentioned
- Dissatisfaction with the policy as a whole (22 percent)
- or lack of interest (18 percent).
- According to the survey, 14 percent believe that their vote does not matter anyway.
The reasons for abstaining had hardly changed since 2014, it said.
Parliament President David-Maria Sassoli rated the results positively. "In this election, more and more younger, more European-friendly and committed citizens have cast their votes," said the Italian. This has strengthened the legitimacy of the EU Parliament.
In the May election, the two major party families, the conservative EPP and the Social Democrats, each suffered heavy losses. The winners included the Greens - but also nationalists and right-wing populists. As a result, the majority situation in Parliament was so complicated that the EU member states were unable to reach an agreement on any of the top candidates in the search for a new head of commission. At the end of the CDU politician Ursula von der Leyen was surprisingly lifted to the post.