IFES Election Guide - Country Profile: European Union

Country Profile:

Overview

Elections

News

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Region

Upcoming Elections

Parliamentary
June 2014
Presidential
2014

European Union
European Union
Region: Europe

Description of government structure:

Chief of State: European Commission President Jose Manuel DURAO BARROSO *
Head of Government: NA NA
Assembly: European Union has a unicameral European Parliament with 785 seats.

* The president of the European Commission is designated by member governments and the president-designate then chooses the other Commission members. The European Parliament confirms the entire Commission for a five-year term.

Description of electoral system:

The European Commission President is designated by member governments to serve a 5-year term.
In the European Parliament 736 members are elected by proportional representation to serve 5-year terms.***

*** Member states may choose their own electoral systems so long as they are based on proportional representation or the single transferable vote. The Council of the European Union is the main decision-making body of the EU. In the Council, 27 member-state ministers have 345 votes, the number of votes being roughly proportional to member-states' populations.