European Ambassadors to highlight significance of upcoming European Parliament elections

EU News 213/2014

12 May 2014

European Parliament elections will be held across the 28 Member States of the European Union from 22 to 25 May. As the only EU Institution to be directly elected by the citizens of Europe, the EP has increasingly been given more powers over time, in recognition of the fact that it represents the voice of the people.

This year's elections will be the first to be held after the Lisbon Treaty entered into force in December 2009 and is also the first step toward the selection of a completely new EU leadership that will be tasked with running the Union to 2019. As a major new development introduced by the Lisbon Treaty, for the first time, there is a clear link between the election results and the nomination of the head of the European Commission, the EU's executive.

When the EU heads of state and government convene after the polls, they will be obliged to 'take into account' the election results when proposing their candidate for European Commission president to the EP, and this candidate must be endorsed by the legislature. As a result, the election outcome will have a great impact on the new leadership and the future direction of the European Union.

To further explain what the upcoming elections mean for the EU, three European ambassadors to Japan – EU Ambassador Hans Dietmar Schweisgut, German Ambassador Hans Carl von Werthern and British Ambassador Tim Hitchens – will brief the press on Tuesday, 20 May.

Details of the press briefing are as follows:

Date: Tuesday, 20 May 2014
Time: 14:30-
Place: The Delegation of the European Union to Japan
Europa House, 4-6-28 Minami-Azabu, Minato-ku
Language: English/Japanese (consecutive interpretation)

Please note that this event is for accredited media only. Those interested in attending are kindly requested to register in advance with the Delegation of the EU to Japan no later than 15:00 on Monday, 19 May.

For more information, please contact:
Mari Koseki Tel: 03-5422-6034
Mari.Koseki@eeas.europa.eu
Miwako Suetsune Tel: 03-5422-6035 / Miwako.Suetsune@eeas.europa.eu
Digital Media:
Vicente J. Luna Tel: 03-5422-6038 / Vicente.Luna-Ganuza@eeas.europa.eu

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