Between 22 and 25 May, Europeans will choose 751 members of the European Parliament, the only directly elected European institution. This will be the eighth election, the first was in 1979. The number of seats per state is decided by relative population.
There will be some differences this time as it is the first election after the Lisbon Treaty was, finally, adopted. It will also be the largest election as Croatia is the 28th and newest member of the union.
There will be fewer MEPs though, a drop from the current 766. Each nation is entitled to a minimum of 6 seats and a maximum of 96 (previously 99). This is because, with an expanding union, the size of the parliament had to be limited to a functional level.
The new parliament will sit for the first time on 1 July 2014. After deciding the various committee chairs and members, together with administration that enables the parliament to function, members will settle down to examine the candidates for the 28 commissioners, who are due to start on 31 October 2014.
There will also be a new head of the European External Action Service, the EU foreign affairs department and the European Council.
Elections are carried out under national member state rules, so the voting age varies across the union as does the method of electing representatives. Some use the list system; others single transferable vote for example.
The context: Austerity, backlash and concern
There is real concern over the coming election in Brussels for several reasons.
One test will be turnout. These elections are unlikely to reach the psychologically important 50% barrier, but a further fall will be a very bad sign.
The elections have persuaded fewer and fewer voters to the polls each election and it is coming to the point where Gunter Verheugen, a former vice-president of the European commission said recently that one of the big challenges was "whether the turnout will be high enough to conclude that the European Parliament was granted a sufficient democratic legitimacy."
In 1979, just under 62% voted, at the last vote in 2009, the figure had fallen to 43%.
These figures include Belgium, Greece and Luxembourg, who have compulsory voting. The ‘official’ figures will often not make this point clear as it artificially raises the turnout by a couple of percent.
Another worry is a possible rise in the number of extreme MEPs, who could be highly disruptive and cause chaos. There has been a rise in extremism in Europe and the parliament hosts a number of MEPs who have views that offend many, on race, religion and holocaust denial to name a few.
Greece and Italy are two nations that have seen their governments replaced by the Troika, how will citizens vote? Will there be enough extremists to allow them to form a political group in the parliament, which would unlock funding.
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