Today in the EU

Today is the first day of the European elections, with citizens heading to the polls to determine who will sit in the new European Parliament, starting in the Netherlands and continuing in other EU countries until Sunday 9th of June. 

As the elections start, we present the latest projections from our polling partner, Europe Elects, on voting trends, percentages, and the seats the parties may gain. 

To break down the numbers and the tendencies, we invited Tobias Gerhard Schminke, CEO and founder of Europe Elects, to our studio.  

This week, EU citizens will decide who will sit in the European Parliament for the next five years. Continuing our election coverage, today we’re focusing on the EU parties, the big political families behind our national ones, and their challenges. Who are these parties exactly and what are the obstacles they face?

To understand better who the big players in these elections will be, and the related challenges, I’m joined by Nick Alipour, our Berlin-based politics reporter.

If 'Bad English' has become the unofficial language of the European Union, it is in large part because its building blocks are acronyms, abbreviations, and insider references that have turned communication among politicians, analysts, and lobbyists in Brussels into an obscure and dense vernacular.

Euractiv's Global Europe editor Alexandrea Brzozowski, politics reporter Max Griera, and politics editor Aurélie Pugnet join us to explain the intricacies of the EU bubble's jargon.

With the EU elections just days away, speculations about the EU Commissioners are growing louder. If the new European Commission president is selected by July, they'll have the summer to form their College of Commissioners from the nominated candidates. But who is staying, who is going, and who are the new entries?

To understand better what is happening with the EU Commissioners, I spoke with our politics editor, Aurélie Pugnet.

Diplomats are racing against time to open negotiations on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union before Hungary takes over the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU on 1 July. 

Hungary, whose leader Viktor Orban has close ties to Russia, might try to kill or stall the deal. Will EU member states succeed? Global Europe’s editor Alexandra Brzozowski analyzes the scenarios ahead. 

The current EU Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, Luxembourg's Nicolas Schmit, is touring EU member states to rally support for socialist parties and strengthen his party's standing ahead of June's EU elections.

Our politics reporter Max Griera, who followed Schmit on the campaign trail, joined us to explain what happened during the tour and what main positions the Socialists’ lead candidate wanted to communicate.

In the face of a deeply divided left, the French National Rally's grab for power is easier than many might expect. How is the party reshaping the influence of the far-right at the European level?

We sat down with Paris correspondent Theo Bourgery-Gonse to put French dynamics into the European context.  

As the European Parliament elections approach, the Greens are broadening their focus beyond environmental policies to address issues that resonate more with the general electorate, like security, defence, and housing.

They are also positioning themselves as the sole alternative to the far-right, which has heavily politicised climate change in a bid to gather more support and secure additional seats in Parliament. But how can the Greens distinguish themselves from the other parties that focus on the same policies and are also battling with the far-right surge? 

To break down this topic, we spoke with Donagh Cagney, Euractiv’s energy and environment editor.

Around the globe, the number of citizens who show unwavering support for democracy is on the rise but there are also more and more of those voting for leaders who may undermine democracy.

 Today, for the first time ever, more than half of the global population supports such leaders. We spoke to United Nations Development Programme's Pedro Conceiçao and Euractiv's politics hub editor Aurelie Pugnet to zoom in on the implications for the upcoming European Union elections.   

Four Dutch parties, including Geert Wilders’ far-right Party for Freedom, have agreed on a government programme emphasising nationalism and a tougher stance on Europe. 

They plan to seek opt-outs from some European policies, particularly migration, despite knowing these efforts will likely fail. Does this mean they’re going for a strategy of confrontation with Europe or one of cooperation? And will their Eurosceptical approach damage the country’s credibility in the EU? 

To understand better the essence of Dutch politics, I’m joined by a special guest who knows the ins and outs of this topic, Euractiv's publisher René Moerland.