Elections to the European Parliament will be held across the 28 countries of the European Union from May 22-25, with up to 400 million people choosing 751 representatives.

Following the introduction of the Lisbon treaty in 2009, the parliament has a more direct say in deciding who should become the next president of the European Commission, giving these elections more significance than in the past.

Europe's largest political blocs have each chosen their candidate to be the Commission president, and the candidates from the two largest groups - the centre-right European People's Party and the centre-left Socialists & Democrats - held their first live TV debate on Wednesday.

Following are some facts and figures about the European elections and the process for choosing the next Commission president.

* Direct elections to the parliament take place every five years and have been held since 1979. The May vote will elect representatives to the 2014-2019 parliament.

* Turnout has fallen at every election since 1979, dropping to 43 percent in 2009, despite four countries - Greece, Cyprus, Belgium and Luxembourg - having compulsory voting.

* EU member states use different voting procedures for the elections, although most use some form of proportional representation, which means small parties that may not have a large presence nationally can sometimes win seats in Europe.

* This year's election is expected to see a rise in support for parties on the far-left and far-right, partly in reaction to the economic crisis in Europe. Low turnout also tends to give greater influence to non-mainstream parties.

* The number of parliamentary seats assigned to each member state is based on population, so Germany gets the most seats (96), France 74, Britain and Italy 73 and the smallest countries - Cyprus, Malta, Estonia and Luxembourg - just 6 seats each.

* The European Parliament meets in two locations, Brussels and Strasbourg in France. Full sittings of the parliament take place on average once a month in Strasbourg.

* Under the Lisbon treaty, parliament has the power of co-decision, meaning its approval is required to bring into force almost all EU legislation. As a result, parliament has a major say in everything from trade policy to financial regulation.

* After May's elections, EU leaders will propose a candidate to be the next Commission president. Under EU rules, they must take into account the election results in making their nomination, and parliament must approve it by a majority.

* The process suggests that whichever party group comes out on top in the elections will have the strongest claim to having their candidate become the Commission president, a powerful job overseeing legislation affecting the entire EU.

* Members of the European Parliament can speak, listen, read and write in any of the EU's 24 official languages.

* There are five major political blocs in the current parliament, grouping MEPs from several countries under one banner. The largest is the EPP, followed by the Socialists and Democrats, the Liberals, the Greens and the European Left.

* To form a bloc, parties must have won at least 25 seats across at least 7 countries. Creating a bloc gives parties greater influence in parliamentary debates and in committees.

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