BRUSSELS - Tomorrow, according to ANSA, the meeting of permanent representatives in the EU will decide the voting period of the next European elections and it should be confirmed that the vote will take place in a range that goes from 6 to 9 June 2024. This is a procedural point, where there is theoretically no debate. The European Parliament had proposed bringing forward the elections in the range of 23-26 May, but on these dates, nor on any alternative range, it was possible to reach unanimous agreement. The decision will then be formalized by the first available EU Council.
The identification of the date for the vote of the European elections has a complex procedure. The vote must be organised over a period of time from Thursday to Sunday throughout the territory of the Union. As an initial hypothesis, the range is expected to correspond to those of the first elections to the European Parliament (7-10 June 1979). In order to establish an alternative period, in addition to the mandatory opinion of the European Parliament, unanimity of the Member States is also required. The EP had put forward the proposal to vote between 23 and 26 May, the same dates that were chosen for the vote in 2019. But, barring last-minute twists and turns, it is almost impossible for the proposal to obtain the unanimous yes of the 27. Belgium, which will have the rotating presidency of the EU, could vote on the same days for the national elections while in recent days Portugal had raised doubts about the choice of 6-9 June being Monday 10 national holiday.
