Episode 10: Your vote
How you can have your say in the EU
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In the 2024 European elections, 16-year-olds in Germany were allowed to vote for the first time. In Austria, Belgium and Malta, you can also vote from 16, in Greece from 17. The next European elections are in 2029. Maybe you'll be voting then.
In the European elections, you help decide who sits in the European Parliament. And with that, who has a say on laws, the budget and the Commission President. In 2024, around 360 million people were eligible to vote. Only just over half of them did.
But you don't have to wait for the next election. Every MEP has an email address. You can write to them, ask questions and tell them what matters to you.
If something bothers you that has to do with the EU, you can send a petition to the European Parliament. Anyone who lives in the EU can do that, even on their own and with no minimum age. The Committee on Petitions looks at every petition.
Even bigger: the European Citizens' Initiative. If one million people from at least seven countries sign, the Commission has to deal with the idea and respond publicly. In Germany, you can sign from the age of 16. The first successful initiative was about clean drinking water for everyone. Afterwards, the EU's drinking water rules were revised.
And when the Commission plans a new law, anyone can give their opinion on its website beforehand. That sounds dry, but otherwise it's mostly companies and interest groups who speak up there.
And so that you know who you're voting for: how MEPs voted is public. You can check it on openrcv.eu, for example on the charging cable from episode 6.
Remember: the EU decides on many things that affect you. And you can have your say: vote, write, sign, check. That was season one of OpenRCV explained. Thanks for watching.
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Now go and see who votes how.
In the European Parliament, almost every important vote is recorded by name. On openrcv.eu you can see how your MEPs voted.
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