The Eurochamber points to disparity in the participation of Europeans in 2024, dominated by national issues

Brussels – The European Parliament pointed out this Wednesday that the European elections in June 2024 were marked by disparities among member states regarding participation in the process, noting that despite being elections for an entire continent, they were dominated by national issues.

Despite reaching a participation rate of 50.74%, the highest in 25 years, the Eurochamber warns in a report on the progress of the European elections about structural problems for participation. Significant disparities were recorded among member states, ranging from 89% and 82% in Belgium and Luxembourg, to 21% in Croatia and 28% in Lithuania.

The report highlights the low participation of vulnerable groups, the decline in youth voting, limitations for citizens with dual nationality, and bureaucratic barriers in general to accessing the polls.

Regarding the issues that marked the elections, parliamentarians lament that national matters dominated despite being European elections, and surveys show shared concerns. This is why they call for a cultural change and greater collaboration with civil society actors to ensure that public discourse focuses more on European issues.

In this way, they urge national parties and the media to increase the visibility of politics at the EU level.

To encourage participation, the Eurochamber points to the need to consolidate the voting day into one single day — in the elections, voting took place from June 6 to 9 depending on the member state — and to unify the voting age, thus achieving a more unified process in the EU.

Furthermore, the report insists on the role of ‘spitzenkandidaten’, the main candidates of political groups, to be the favorites to lead the European Commission, thereby promoting greater identification with the electoral process. (July 16)