- European election: Candidates from Germany prepare themselves
- Intellectual property: patent system to become less bureaucratic
- European elections in Germany likely on June 9
- AI Act: Negotiators agree on compromise
- Data protection: ECJ Advocate General affirms compensation for damages
- Environment Committee votes for improvements to EU textile strategy
- Energy sharing: Industry does not want to wait for reform
- Finland: Election winner Orpo seeks collaboration with right-wing populists
- What’s cooking in Brussels? Farewell of an agricultural expert
You can mark June 6-9, 2024 in your calendar to be on the safe side, because according to information from Table.Media, the European elections will most likely take place during this period. In Germany, the election would thus fall on June 9. The parties are already preparing to draw up their lists. Nervousness is likely to increase among German MEPs – also because prominent federal politicians want to move to Strasbourg. Markus Grabitz gives an overview of the parties’ candidates and schedules.
With its proposal on intellectual property, the Commission wants to make the patent system less bureaucratic and reduce the fragmentation of the internal market. The ongoing dispute over Standard Essential Patents (SEPs) is also to be defused. There have been fierce disputes over SEPs in recent years, for example between Mercedes and Nokia. The package also includes a proposal for an EU-wide legal instrument for compulsory licenses that can be used in the event of a crisis, as Markus Grabitz also reports.
Negotiators in the EU Parliament have reached a preliminary agreement on the AI Act. “We have all worked hard on this dossier”, said co-rapporteur Dragoș Tudorache (Renew) on Thursday. But no one is really happy with the outcome, apparently, with the EPP calling the agreement fragile. Read more in the News.
Sarah Schaefer
Feature
European election: Candidates from Germany prepare themselves
The parties are already preparing to draw up lists for the European elections. Germany is entitled to 96 of the 705 seats in the Strasbourg plenum. The rule of thumb applies: For one percent of the votes, each party in Germany gets one mandate in the Strasbourg plenum.
It is likely that the next European elections will also not have a threshold clause, so that even representatives of micro-parties with a one percent share of the vote will be able to get in. An overview of the parties’ preparations:
CDU has only state lists
The Christian Democrats are the only German group in the European Parliament that is not running with a federal list. Each federal state has its own state list. This is due to the fact that the CSU is only contesting in Bavaria and the CDU is contesting in the other federal states. On election night, this circumstance leads to a long period of uncertainty for the candidates in the back seats. Which state list wins then depends on several factors, such as the number of votes and voter turnout.
Continue reading now
… and get free access to this Professional Briefing for a month.
Are you already a guest at the Europe.Table? Log in now