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4 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 9 JUNE 2024 EWROPEJ MATTHEW VELLA mvella@mediatoday.com.mt EWROPEJ 2024 373 million voters to pick 373 million voters this week are eligible to vote in 720 MEPs to the European Par- liament: a continentatl vote of some pro- portion, considering that over 230 million people are eligible to vote the arguably "most powerful person" in the world in the United States. But European politics are certainly of a different dynamic. 27 nations, each with different nation- al interests, each jealously guarding their sovereign interests, elect national MEPs who are then called to legislate on rules hammered out, in part, by an executive of nationally-selected Commissioners, which votes are ultimately signed into being by these nations' prime ministers. It is hardly "commander-in-chief" politics. And that is why this year's election is a big deal for Europe, a continent trying to hard to punch above its weight against the monoliths of the United States and Chi- na, whose power in international trade is less hampered by Europe's climatic ambi- tions towards carbon-neutrality or human rights standards. It will be MEPs who will vote on laws de- signed first by the EC to push forward the European agenda, and that is why Euro- pean elections – irrespective of low turn- out and a national apathy towards certain pan-European issues – remain crucial. Job No. 1: Selecting the Commission The 720 MEPs' first job once elected to the parliament in Brussels (there's also an- other one in Strasbourg, France where they meet almost once a month), is to select the European Commission, the C-suite execu- tive of the EU. The Commission is made up of 27 peo- ple, each nominated by a member state, who effectively run the EU for the next five years. The Commission is led by the president of the European Commission, which tradi- tionally might either mean the "lead candi- date" of the pan-European party that wins the EP elections; or any such other person the Council of the EU – read, prime minis- ters – decide upon. In 2019, the Council refused to have the EPP's 'spitzenkandidat' and party leader, German MEP Manfred Weber as presi- dent of the EC. Europe's premiers instead chose former German defence minister Ursula von der Leyen. Now Von der Leyen is running as the EPP's lead candidate – and, albeit with seats diminished, it is likely that the EPP will win the election and get first dibs on who leads the Commission. The rightward shift Hapless though many of these parties tend to be, their leaders falling either in the lap of the Russian bear or surviving a Damascene episode by settling into the European centre, this year's election will see a sharp turn to the right. Already, far-right party Fratelli d'Italia, which elected Giorgia Meloni to prime minister in Italy, has been less muscular in its foreign policy: leading the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), Mel- oni showed herself willing to cooperate with Von der Leyen, taking the party away from the shadow cast on other far-right formations by Vladimir Putin. The gains by the parties that fall under the conservative right ECR or the far-right ID (Independence & Democracy) will mean MEPs who are more Eurosceptic but also less interested in the EU's environ- mental priorities and seeking more aid for manufacturing, security and agriculture, and a tougher stance on migration. That affects voting patterns: major rules on the New Green Deal always require cross-support from different parties. A weakened socialist-green-liberal alliance might mean the centre-right EPP will be propped by the hard right to water down ambitious climate laws. That means that all eyes this week will be on the gains made by Marine Le Pen's National Rally in France, and the populist Alternative for Germany which is run- ning neck-and-neck with Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats in second place. Allegiances, identities and issues Europeans vote in separate national votes, with each of the 27 members states having slightly different rules governing the votes. Malta, Cyprus and Luxembourg – the smaller nations – elect just 6 MEPs each. The larger countries get more: Germany 96, France 81. A guide to the politics of this week's European elections, why it matters, and why so many different political crosswinds make this election one of the most complex hustings for the EU EP expected seats forecast European Parliament president Roberta Metsola