Almost three years after voting to leave the European Union, Britons will go to the polls to elect new MEPs after Brexit was delayed.
Why is the vote happening?
Theresa May had hoped that taking part in the contest could be avoided, with the UK’s departure from the European Union concluded before the May 23 vote.
But because of her failure to get the Withdrawal Agreement approved by MPs at Westminster, the UK remains a member of the EU and has to take part in the elections to the European Parliament.
#Brexit: The European Parliament cannot have a variable composition. Any extension beyond #Europeanelections will result in UK's obligation to participate. We cannot deal with European Parliament elections being treated as a game. #EUCO
— Antonio Tajani (@EP_President) April 10, 2019
Will MEPs take their seats?
The new European Parliament will assemble on July 2 and with no prospect of the Brexit process being completed by then the UK’s MEPs will have the same status as all other members.
How long will they stay MEPs?
They will be elected on the same five-year cycle as MEPs from other countries, but their membership will cease as soon as the UK leaves the EU.
The current deadline is October 31, the date the extension to Article 50 expires, but this could be delayed further if the other 27 EU countries agree.
If the Prime Minister succeeds in getting her Withdrawal Agreement Bill through Parliament, the UK could potentially leave the EU on August 1, under the terms of the extension if the UK and EU ratify the Withdrawal Agreement before October 31, then Brexit would happen on the first day of the following month.
What about the rest of the EU?
The size of the European Parliament was due to be cut from 751 seats to 705 with the UK’s exit.
Twenty-seven of the seats formerly reserved for the UK will be redistributed among 14 other countries once Brexit occurs.
Politicians elected for these reallocated seats will in limbo – unable to take up their place until the UK and its MEPs leave.
Are there any other impacts?
The make-up of the European Parliament has a knock-on effect on the allocation of some of Brussels’ top jobs.
Who will be the next president of the European Commission?
Watch the video for highlights of the live #Eurovision debate with candidates at the European Parliament ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/TnXegvibjV
— European Parliament (@Europarl_EN) May 16, 2019
One of the first tasks of UK MEPs will be to vote on Jean-Claude Juncker’s replacement as the next European Commission president.
The member states nominate a candidate for the post, but in doing so they must take account of the European election results, and the appointment needs approval by a majority in the parliament.
Candidates for the remaining commission portfolios have to go through a tough parliamentary vetting process too.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel